Fahey holds strong hand

The North Yorkshire-based trainer is responsible for 13 of the 49 horses left in at the five-day confirmation stage.

Successful in the past with Vintage Premium (2002), Charlie Tokyo (2007) and Flying Clarets (2008), Albaqaa did best of Fahey's three representatives 12 months ago behind Sirvino.

Albaqaa is already guaranteed a place in a maximum 20-strong field, but most of Fahey's entries are not at the moment.

The weights are headed by Distant Memories and the four-year-old, trained at nearby Tadcaster by Tom Tate, was a winner over nine furlongs at York last month.

He had two of Fahey's Cup entries, Dream Lodge and Demolition, back in third and fourth places.

Tate has another possible in King's Gambit while Jeremy Noseda could saddle course-and-distance winner Rebel Soldier and Royal Destination.

A quality entry also includes the William Haggas-trained South Easter, Ed Dunlop's Fareer, the Saeed bin Suroor duo of Emirates Champion and Sopranist, Luca Cumani's Forte Dei Marmi, Sir Michael Stoute's Imposing, the Jim Goldie-trained Hillview Boy and Barry Hills's Royal Ascot scorer Ransom Note.

Fahey will be hoping for a profitable day at Pontefract this afternoon and Monkton Vale could provide a boost for the Norton handler by reverting to winning ways in the Yorkshire Racing Summer Festival Handicap.

The three-year-old's valiant effort to make all at York two starts ago was only derailed in the final strides, while the less said about his last run, the better.

Drawn wide on Chester's Roodee, he proved much too keen and was forced to run wide for much of the race, so it is easy to draw a line through that run.

Richard Guest's Brazilian import Jackson could prove to be anything so will provide ample opposition, while Holiday Cocktail is not one to rule out off his current lowly handicap mark.

The big race of the meeting is the Listed Weatherbys Bank Pipalong Stakes, which looks an ideal opportunity for Flora Trevelyan to get some black type.

Walter Swinburn's filly routed a decent field at Sandown last time and deserves to step up to this company, while the race is given an international flavour with Norwegian raider Theatrical Award, a Group Three winner in her native land.

Majestic Myles made a mockery of his initial handicap mark at Redcar five days ago and he reappears before the handicapper can get a grip on him in the Dianne Nursery.

Fahey's charge will not have it all his own way, however, as the experienced Alfraamsey will have been buoyed by a recent success.

Henry Cecil looks the man to follow in the Book Online At pontefract-races.co.uk Maiden Stakes, as his Out Of Eden looked an improving sort when running on for second at Sandown last time.