Izzy needs to get busy to emulate the remarkable Spindrifter

2.30 PontefractBritish Stallion Studs EBF Spindrifter Conditions Stakes | 2yo 6f | RUK

Three down, ten to go. That's the daunting – and completely unfair –challenge facing Izzy Bizu as she lines up for a race named after one of the 20th century's most prolific juvenile winners.

Spindrifter won 13 times as a two-year-old for owner Graham Waters and trainer Sir Mark Prescott in 1980, with three of those victories coming at Pontefract.

That sort of tally is nearly impossible to match nowadays, as most of the conditions races Spindrifter farmed are no longer run, but Izzy Bizu has done her best and has scored three times in a four-race career, landing novice events at Catterick, Carlisle and Leicester.

None was a Class 2 contest – she was well held in a Listed race at York in May – so she escapes any penalty in this £20,000 race, which her trainer Mark Johnston has won in two of the last three years.

"She's done fantastically well," said Johnston's son and assistant Charlie. "I don't think there are many, if any, other two-year-olds who have won three already this year.

"We were toying with the Empress Stakes at Newmarket, but this looked like a less deep race. Six furlongs on good to soft ground are optimal conditions for her and she's getting weight from them all, so I hope she'll go well.

"It's quite a valuable prize and it would be nice to win it again. No horse is going to win as many in a year as Spindrifter, but if she could get a fourth win on the board she'd be well ahead of anything else in Britain, so fingers crossed."

None of today's rivals has won more than once, but Unfortunately achieved the highest Racing Post rating in the field when beaten just a head in a Listed race at Maisons-Laffitte last month.

This is his first attempt at six furlongs and trainer Karl Burke said: "We were toying with running him in the Prix du Bois over five furlongs at Deauville on Saturday but he'll definitely improve for a step up in trip. We hope to go for the Prix Robert Papin after this.

"He should have won at Maisons-Laffitte, he was drawn wide, he got hampered after a furlong and he jumped a shadow on the track when he was trying to quicken. He's a good horse and I hope he'll prove that at Pontefract."

Godolphin's Zaman was never able to challenge in the Group 3 Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot, but Zap was third in the Woodcote at Epsom.

Trainer Richard Fahey said: "We're happy with him, but it's going to be tough for him with a penalty. He ran well at Epsom but it was a Class 2 he won at York, so he has to give them weight."

British Stallion Studs EBF Spindrifter Stakes card, form and betting