Racing: Sarayat a Coventry Stakes contender

Sarayat could be bound for Royal Ascot following an encouraging racecourse debut under Philip Robinson in the Gerrard Investment Management Stakes at Leicester yesterday.

Some of the interest in the race was lost when Silver Seeker, who would have been David Loder's first juvenile runner of the campaign, was withdrawn because the ground was on the soft side.

Sarayat started a well backed favourite as Western, the first of Sir Michael Stoute's two-year-olds to appear, drifted badly in the market. And Sarayat justified the confidence in fine style, striding out well in the last furlong to go three lengths clear of Assignation while Western beat only one of the eight runners home, having struggled from the outset.

Michael Jarvis, the winner's trainer, said: "I will need to speak to his owner, but he is a possibility for Royal Ascot and the Coventry would be his race of he goes there. He has not been hard-trained but he has come in the last two or three weeks and he is a horse which will improve for the outing."

John Harris and Gary Bardwell completed respective doubles at Leicester when Litany gained her third success from four outings this season in the easiest fashion in the concluding race.

Harris will have the Ascot Stakes in mind for the three-year-old next season, and he added: "That is our fifth winner in the past fortnight so we are very happy the way things are going."

Church Farm Flyer showed the way home in the second division of the claimer after which Conrad Allen was full of praise for jockey Seb Sanders, saying: "He's only had a couple of rides for me, he gave her a lovely ride and I was quite impressed with him. That's our seventh winner of the season."