St Nicholas prepares to make up for lost time at Epsom

The four-year-old colt, touted by many to be a wonderhorse after winning Doncaster’s Racing Post Trophy emphatically in October 2009, missed the Epsom showpiece because of lacklustre form.

However, it is tipped to make amends in the five-runner Investec Coronation Cup, a race run over the Derby course and distance for horses aged four and upwards.

St Nicholas Abbey made up for lost time by winning Chester’s Ormonde Stakes last month, and Ryan Moore will again take the ride for Aidan O’Brien, who has won the race four times since 2005.

As expected, the Ballydoyle maestro withdrew his other two entries, Await The Dawn and Cape Blanco.

The main opposition to the renaissance of St Nicholas Abbey will come from the hugely-talented mare Midday, who tries to fill a rare big-race blank for trainer Henry Cecil.

Five-times a winner at the highest level, Khalid Abdullah’s five-year-old has finished second in her two visits to the Surrey venue.

Beaten by Debussy in the Blue Riband Trial on her seasonal debut in 2009, she went down by a head to her great adversary Sariska in the Oaks that summer. She reaffirmed her enthusiasm for the game with a comeback win at York three weeks ago.

However, St Nicholas Abbey is a shade of odds-on, at 5-6 with Coral, to show he is a champion older horse.

Sinbad The Sailor can partially compensate Sir Alex Ferguson for Manchester United’s Champions League defeat by winning at Wetherby tonight.

The six-year-old is well-regarded by Hampshire-based trainer George Baker and Andrew Tinkler, the Malton-born jockey who will carry Ferguson’s hopes.

Tim Vaughan’s Makhzoon, the mount of Richard Johnson, is the one to beat as Wetherby stages its last meeting before the summer break.