With Highfield and Hanagan it could be a day for dreams to come true on the Knavesmire

There is something highly appropriate about Paul Hanagan bowing out at York aboard a son of Wootton Bassett on a card whose Nunthorpe Stakes centrepiece carries the Coolmore stallion's name.

It was aboard Wootton Bassett that Hanagan enjoyed Group 1 glory for the first time in the 2010 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere. Two months earlier that same horse had blitzed the opposition for speed in the Ebor meeting's valuable sales race. That same asset will be the defining feature of the Nunthorpe's 100th running, in which another pride of the white rose county seems sure to have the strongest support as she bids for a repeat.

Everything about the Highfield Princess story is lovely, save for the bites she occasionally seeks to inflict on owner-breeder John Fairley and jockey Jason Hart. A mare who was beaten off a 57 rating three years ago has become a sprint sensation. Last year she rattled off three consecutive Group 1 triumphs, the middle one coming just down the road from her home in Malton, where she resides in a box overlooked by Fairley's kitchen. The Nunthorpe betting suggests they may be drinking something stronger than tea in that kitchen come Friday evening.