Oisin Murphy to rideThreat in the St James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot

Oisin Murphy has been booked to ride Richard Hannon-trained Threat in the St James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot next week.

The champion jockey won the Gimcrack Stakes at York on Threat last season and Threat’s Cheveley Park Stud owners have gone back to Murphy after the colt was partnered by Pat Dobbs in his last two runs last season, including when winning the Champagne Stakes at Doncaster in September.

Threat ran at last year’s Royal Ascot meeting when second to Arizona in the Coventry Stakes and Hannon opted to go straight to the St James’s Palace Stakes rather than take in last Saturday’s 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket.

Oisin Murphy has been booked to ride Richard Hannon-trained Threat at Royal Ascot

Hannon, who hopes to have around 30 runners at the royal meeting including 1,000 Guineas runner-up Cloak Of Spirits in the Coronation Stakes, said: ‘Threat is one of my big hopes. He has been training brilliantly. He has a tiny setback before the Guineas so we left him and I don’t think the undulating Newmarket track would have suited him anyway.’

Murphy landed his first Classic last Saturday on Kameko in the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket. The St James’s Palace Stakes, which will be run on the final day of the royal meeting, would normally be a natural stepping stone for Kameko.

But the proximity of the two races in this disrupted season is one reasons why the Investec Derby on July 4 now looks the favoured next race for the Andrew Balding-trained colt.

Meanwhile, Frankie Dettori has been booked to ride Irish sprinter Sceptical in Tuesday’s Group One King’s Stand Stakes. The Godolphin cast-off, picked up for only £2,800, has won four of his five races for trainer Denis Hogan and was an easy winner of a Listed race at Naas on Monday