'He'll make a lovely four-year-old' - White Birch connections hoping colt can end season in style at Newbury

Derby third White Birch is set to pitch up at Newbury on Saturday for his final start of the season in the Group 3 BetVictor St Simon Stakes, with connections looking forward to putting him away with a view to a four-year-old campaign.

The John Murphy-trained colt has mixed it with the best of this season's Classic crop, finishing runner-up behind The Foxes in the Dante at York prior to a cracking third at Epsom where he was third behind subsequent Irish Champion Stakes winner Auguste Rodin, with last weekend's Champion Stakes hero King Of Steel splitting the pair.

A rare below-par effort followed in the Irish Derby but he got back on track when taking on his elders in a Group 3 at Leopardstown last month, where he was beaten a length and a half into fourth by Adelaide River.

George Murphy, assistant trainer to his father John, said: "Newbury this weekend is the plan with White Birch. He ran a blinder at Leopardstown. We were delighted with him as the ground was probably a little bit sharp for him.

"We probably thought there'd be more of a gallop in the race so he ended up a bit behind given how the race panned out. He had a brilliant start to the season but ran a bit flat at the Curragh so it was nice to see him come back to form."

The three-year-old is already a Group 3 winner courtesy of April's Ballysax success and he is currently priced at 5-1 to add a second Group success to his CV. The William Haggas-trained Hamish heads the market at 6-4 in the 1m4f contest as he goes in search of a fourth win in a row at this level.

"I'd imagine this will be it for the season. There's a not a whole lot else bar we go travelling, which I don't think we'll do," said Murphy. "There's plenty of nice races for four-year-olds next year, so he'll likely put away after the weekend.

"He's definitely exciting for next year. He's growing and getting stronger all the time and I think he'll make a lovely four-year-old."

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