It feels like we’ve only been back on the Rowley Mile for five minutes, but we’ve already reached the first leg of the famous ‘Autumn Double’.

We’ll have info the for Cesarewitch in due course, but for now it’s the straight nine-furlong charge worth some £120,000, these six horses topping our list:

Main Contenders

Anmaat

Improving quickly, a lover of fast ground and able to see out a mile-and-a-quarter is Owen Burrows’ Anmaat and he must be considered a leading light here.

The trip is an important factor. True, this is nine furlongs and not ten, but so often winners of this race were by sires who stayed a strong mile at three and/or stayed 1¼ miles at four, given that the furious pace means it often suits those who stay on late.

Anmaat can do that and his form has no major holes. He’s won his last two races easily and wasn’t beaten far by Bashosh back in June.

Having got better with every single run in his six-race career thus far, there’s no reason to believe he will suddenly stop climbing the ladder now and has plenty in his favour.

Astro King

A strong ante-post tip in the wider racing media and one of the favourites as well, Astro King had to make the list.

In many ways he’s the classic Sir Michael Stoute improving four-year-old, but we’re not certain how much weight that really holds these days in a more competitive environment.

He stays the mile well enough and has stamina on the dam’s side of his pedigree, but he’s taken a backward step on more than one occasion when asked to go over further and this race may just find him out when they enter the Dip.

Chichester

Very strong money came for this chap in recent days, and that has to be taken into consideration. That being said, the cash didn’t come from the owner and it seems he is a simple punters’ choice given that he is officially well in.

Keith Dalgleish’s four-year-old gets in with just a 4lb penalty after winning so very easily at Ayr, a 6½-length success for which he’s been put up 12lbs by the handicapper.

He doesn’t have the best draw in stall 10 however, while the flat-out pace may not be to his liking either.

Irish Admiral

Irish Admiral was bought out of Ireland by Sheikh Ahmed and sent to William Haggas with plenty expected of him this season.

After an easy win at Wolverhampton, he looked all over the winner at York in a good handicap in May before flattening out.

After further disappointments, he came good last time and in some style. Sent to Redcar for a one-mile handicap, Irish Admiral kept on superbly to open up a good gap at the line to excellent yardstick Hortzadar and is still rated just 97.

There’s more to come for sure, with this race potentially dragging out another lump of improvement from him under the fabulous Tom Marquand.

Spirit Dancer

Not to be taken lightly is Richard Fahey’s outsider Spirit Dancer. Drawn well on the near side, the son of Frankel should be in the right place at the right time to make the most of his solid mile-and-a-quarter form.

Uncle Bryn

The ante-post favourite has been given a good draw near the stands side rail, so the cash may continue to tumble in.

Everyone remembers the Gosdens’ Lord North winning this easily two years ago, many believing Uncle Bryn is also the proverbial ‘group horse in a handicap’.

He’s on the up, that’s for sure, but his win last time wasn’t as impressive as many believe although he has only been raised 2lbs. Rab Havlin is now on board too with Frankie Dettori riding the stable’s other contender Magical Morning.

Summary

Breeding came into question here. The older horses have shown us what they can do, but those improving three and four-year-olds have not and so their pedigree as well as the crucial draw were taken into account.

With all of that in mind, the sole selection may have been IRISH ADMIRAL had he been drawn higher. He still has plenty more to give and they’ve found the key to him now, but he may have to tack across.

Very much of interest is ANMAAT too from stall 22. Both horses have what it takes in this race, while both are comfortably in double-figure prices at the time of writing. With that in mind, the advice is to split the stakes and back them both.