Tonight's racing: world champ returns and he's competing with history

The racing comes from both the north and south of the United Kingdom on Saturday evening, with Lingfield and Haydock both hosting Flat meetings, while it looks as though the record books will be due an update in a different corner of the world. Here are three you cannot afford to miss.

Tulip Fever
7.15 Lingfield

There will not be too many York maiden winners allowed into nurseries on a mark of 75 this year, so in that sense it is no surprise to see Tulip Fever around the even-money mark, especially in a field that has been cut in half by non-runners. She also has the 5lb claim of able apprentice Georgia Cox.

The caveat is that she has been a beaten favourite either side of York, if that is the sort of thing that spooks you as a punter. A more positive reading would suggest she will have more to give as the penny drops.

Drawn nearest the stands' side rail and with the pace for shorter, Tulip Fever is also well placed to get the race sewn up early.
Ibn Malik
7.30 Haydock

Just the quartet remain in this conditions stakes, so it should still offer us a reasonable insight into how Ibn Malik's recovery is coming along.

He was runner-up in the Vintage Stakes and Champagne Stakes as a juvenile, then won the Free Handicap last year. He has rather hit the buffers since, with the sparsity of his runs suggesting off-track problems.

There were embers, if not exactly a spark, visible in his recent return to action and if he has come on as would be expected he should be thereabouts tonight. Whether he can get back to his Group-class best is questionable and would probably demand a clear-cut victory.

Arrogate
Del Mar 2.10 (Sunday)

We last saw Arrogate in March, when he left us with a tantalising 'to be continued' when winning the Dubai World Cup from a position he had no right to overcome.

It was the sort of performance that removes a time stamp. From now on Arrogate is no longer competing only with those around him, he also has history in the inside stall.

On achievement, he will be working towards joining Tiznow as a dual Breeders' Cup Classic winner in the autumn. On figures, his fans will be looking for any excuse to further compare him with Frankel, the European nonpareil who won all 14 of his starts in the same Juddmonte silks.

The whole world's a stage where the second part is concerned. The big performance could as well come in tonight's San Diego Handicap as it could back here at the Breeders' Cup in November. Expect a big win and expect the evangelists to sing, but judge Arrogate for yourself.