Penitent switched from Lincoln bid

The six-year-old’s trainer David O’Meara said earlier in the week his charge was not a definite runner on Town Moor and is instead set for a trip to France to contest the Prix Edmond Blanc at Saint-Cloud on Sunday.

Nawton-based O’Meara said: “He’ll be declared for Saint-Cloud and, provided the ground is all right, he’ll run there. We just thought it would be a big ask to run with top weight in the Lincoln.”

The North Yorkshire handler is still represented in the Lincoln by Smarty Socks.

Ante-post favourite Eton Forever features among a maximum field of 22 runners.

Roger Varian’s five-year-old missed the cut for the traditional Flat season curtain-raiser 12 months ago, but bolted up in the consolation Spring Mile and has been strongly backed for his seasonal reappearance.

Yorkshire-born William Haggas saddled High Low (1992), Very Wise (2007) and Penitent (2010) to win the Lincoln before the latter switched to the aforementioned O’Meara, and has a major contender in Fury, who was fifth in last season’s 2000 Guineas.

Former John Oxx inmate Cocozza makes his debut for English-based Italian Marco Botti, while Godolphin trainer Saeed bin Suroor is represented by Man Of Action and Start Right.

Racing is mourning the loss of Montjeu, the sire of three Epsom Derby winners, who has died, aged 16, after a short illness.

Winner of six Group One races on the track, the stallion developed into one of the world’s leading sires for Coolmore, producing numerous top-class runners.

A statement from Coolmore said yesterday: “Montjeu, the highest-rated racehorse ever by the great Sadler’s Wells, has died this morning at Coolmore Stud after a short illness which was due to complications from an overwhelming septicaemia.”

Montjeu, regularly ridden by Mick Kinane of Sea The Stars fame more recently, retired to stud at the end of 2000 after a racing career that saw him land the 1999 French and Irish Derbies, as well as the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. He was also an electrifying winner of the 2000 King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes.

Motivator became a first Derby winner for Montjeu when landing the Epsom Classic in 2005, while Authorized followed up two years later. French raider Pour Moi then added to the tally last year.

Other Group One-winning progeny in Europe include last year’s Breeders’ Cup Turf hero St Nicholas Abbey, St Leger winner Masked Marvel and 2011 Champion Hurdle winner Hurricane Fly.

n Wetherby’s final meeting of the 2011-12 National Hunt season features Gold Cup-winning jockey AP McCoy who is on the brink of winning a 17th successive title – an unrivalled level of dominance.

The champion will hope Nicky Henderson’s Winning Habit, narrowly beaten at Newbury last week, can live up to his name in the Yorkshire Post Ladies Day Handicap Hurdle. It will require some McCoy magic – the seven-year-old is without a win from five career starts.

That Irish trainer Ronald O’Leary has secured the rider’s services for the unraced Dreamers Gold in the concluding Bumper must also be a tip in itself.

McCoy’s great rival Richard Johnson also makes the journey North to ride Peedeeque for North Yorkshire trainer David O’Meara and Tim Vaughan’s Quobilai.

Johnson, who rode a winner for Ferdy Murphy last Sunday. is looking to hold off the challenge of Jason Maguire so he can finish second to McCoy for a 14th time in the jockeys’ championship.

McCoy’s and Johnson’s prowess, and the latter’s misfortune to be in the shadows of National Hunt racing’s greatest rider, can be measured by the fact that the two men have won nearly 6,000 races between them.

As to the future, Middleham’s Henry Brooke will look to strengthen his grip on the conditional title for up-and-coming riders when he partners Absinthe in the opener.

n Jump jockey Keith Mercer’s injury nightmare continues nearly two years after he broke his leg at Worcester.

The popular Richmond rider, a former Scottish National winner, has now made two comebacks that have been aborted by fresh injuries – and he has now been diagnosed with a fractured humerus from his most recent fall which will keep him sidelined until the autumn.