First start for well-bred pair of Sepoy colts

Saeed Bin Suroor and William Haggas introduce a pair of well-bred debutants in the 7f British Stallion Studs EBF Maiden Stakes at Leicester on Monday (8.35pm), including a half-brother to the dam of 2,000 Guineas second Barney Roy, and a homebred from the famed Normandie Stud.

Mark Of Excellence, a son of Sepoy, is trained by bin Suroor and will be ridden by Joe Fanning. He was bred by Roland H Alder out of the Mujahid mare Cheyenne Star, who also happens to be the granddam of Barney Roy.

Cheyenne Star was a classy racemare, winning the 7f Brownstown Stakes at Leopardstown and the mile Ridgewood Pearl Stakes at the Curragh, both Group 3s.

She is the best performer out of the Listed Garnet Stakes scorer Charita, who also produced the unraced dam of top-class sprinter Gordon Lord Byron.

Now owned by Godolphin, Mark Of Excellence was bought by John Ferguson for 110,000gns from Owenstown Stud at Book 2 of Tattersalls in 2015, and is the most recent of three foals out of Cheyenne Star.

Haggas sends out Wannabe Like You, to be ridden by Daniel Muscutt, who is also by Sepoy and also happens to be the most recent foal out of his dam, the Grand Lodge mare Wannabe Posh.

Wannabe Posh won four of her 18 starts, including the Listed Galtres Stakes, and was placed at Group 3 level in the Lillie Langtry Stakes at Goodwood and the Noblesse Stakes at Cork. She has already produced a Pattern winner in Group 3 scorer Wannabe Yours.

Wannabe Posh is a half-sister to the Cheveley Park Stakes winner and 1,000 Guineas second Wannabe Grand and Group 3 winner Wannabe Better and Listed scorer Pirateer.

The Sepoy pair are two of three runners without experience in the contest, and face a tough task up against the Dubawi pair of To Dibba and Loujain - the latter a half-brother to Queen Mary heroine Maqaasid, and the Delegator colt Del Parco.

View Monday's racecards