Benvenuto Cellini regains position at head of Futurity market as six are declared for Doncaster Group 1

Ante-post Derby favourite Benvenuto Cellini heads Aidan O'Brien's William Hill Futurity Trophy (2.05) team and has returned to the top of the market for the Doncaster's Saturday highlight after his declaration ended uncertainty about his participation.

The son of Frankel had been the odds-on favourite to enhance his Classic hopes in Britain's final Group 1 of the year at Monday's confirmation stage. However, following an unsettled forecast and O'Brien stating "nothing is set in stone", he was replaced at the head of the market by stablemate Hawk Mountain on Wednesday.

But Benvenuto Cellini has returned to favouritism after he was among the final field of six for the Futurity. He was an impressive winner of a Group 2 at Leopardstown at the Irish Champions Festival under Christophe Soumillon, and O'Brien's stand-in number one retains the ride.

Hawk Mountain, who impressively won the Beresford Stakes last time, will again be ridden by Ronan Whelan, while O'Brien's team is completed by Action. He was third in the Royal Lodge last month and will be partnered by Wayne Lordan. 

The British team is headed by unbeaten Juddmonte juvenile Item and the John and Thady Gosden-trained Oxagon.

Owned by Prince Faisal, Oxagon steps up to a mile for the first time after finishing fifth in the Dewhurst Stakes at Newmarket over a furlong shorter this month.

The owner's racing manager Ted Voute said: "They only had 6.4mm of rain at Doncaster last night. It's a pretty windy storm as well and there's not a lot of rain predicted now, so hopefully we'll run.

Hawk Mountain: briefly usurped stablemate as Futurity favouriteCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

"We proved to ourselves in the Dewhurst that he needs a little bit further. This wasn't the plan, it was more opportunistic, but lets hope it pays off. We were disappointed not to be a bit closer in the Dewhurst, but Oisin Murphy thought that a little bit further would suit him, and I think John felt that a mile and two furlongs would be his trip next year. 

"It made sense to take a look at this race, and it seems to have cut up quite a bit. There are a lot of very similarly rated horses against him."

Oxagon already has high-class form at Doncaster this year, having finished runner-up in the Champagne Stakes behind Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere winner Puerto Rico. He was ahead of Gewan that day, who got his revenge in the Dewhurst.

"The Champagne form has worked out remarkably well," Voute said. "The Dewhurst winner must've had an off day that day, I presume, but Oxagon is having a good run at the moment. Let's hope it continues and we haven't used up all the luck."

Item has won both starts and takes a significant step up in class, having landed a Bath novice contest last month. The line-up is completed by outsider Rochfortbridge, who was second in a Listed contest at Pontefract earlier this week for Adrian Keatley.

O'Brien did not declare impressive Zetland Stakes winner Pierre Bonnard, while another notable absentee is the Ralph Beckett-trained Cape Orator.

The son of Mohaather was behind Oxagon when third in the Champagne last month. He had been available at single-figure prices after winning a valuable conditions contest at Longchamp on Arc weekend.

William Hill Futurity Trophy (2.05, Doncaster, Saturday)

Action Wayne Lordan (jockey)
Benvenuto Cellini Christophe Soumillon
Hawk Mountain Ronan Whelan
Item Colin Keane
Oxagon Oisin Murphy
Rochfortbridge Oisin McSweeney

Latest betting
bet365: 11-10 Benvenuto Cellini, 9-4 Hawk Mountain, 8 Action, Item, 9 Oxagon, 100 Rochfortbridge.

Read these next:

Zac Purton hits back after Maureen Haggas labels his ride on Lake Forest as 'about the worst I've seen in my entire life' 

Sean Bowen has been in red-hot form after ten winners in four days - here we assess his chances at Fontwell on Thursday 

Yulong dismiss ‘completely untrue’ rumours over continued Australian absence of founder Zhang Yuesheng 

Looking for free bets? Racing Post have got the best offers, all in one place. Visit racingpost.com/freebets to find out more.