He travels very well in his races and we just need him to finish a little better. And in the case of Maraahel, another secret weapon - a pair of blinkers - is to be introduced to help his quest.The four-year-old, who started his season off with a Group Three win at Chester, was beaten only a neck and a head by Electrocutionist and Zenno Rob Roy on the Knavesmire in one of the most pulsating finishes of the season. "I think she was unlucky last time when the field split up, because she came to win her bit of the race and then stopped in the soft going," he said "Saturday's race will be a tough one. But she's well in herself, so we'll have a go."Maraahel, a close third in the York International, is owned by Hamdan Al Maktoum, and the well regarded Rob Roy, another supplementary entry after his encouraging comeback win at the last Newmarket meeting, by Philip Newton. Stoute took the lead at the end of August, then O'Brien's St Leger victory with Scorpion put him back on top, before being relegated again by Peeress's Sun Chariot Stakes success 11 days ago.A double at Leicester yesterday with Papal Bull (ironically, the colt, who was ridden by Kieren Fallon, runs in the colours most immediately associated with Ballydoyle, the Magnier navy blue) and Best Alibi brought Stoute's seasonal tally to £2,058,927.Richardson acknowledges that Chic, who was the unplaced favourite in the Sun Chariot Stakes, faces an uphill task. If they're fit and well, they'll run."The two rival trainers have been trading places at the top of the table for most of the summer. But this week she was reinstated, at a cost of £24,000, at the behest of her owners, David and Patricia Thompson, in whose Cheveley Park Stud colours she runs.

And her stablemate Peeress will carry the Group One penalty earned two weeks ago in the Sun Chariot Stakes in the opening Challenge Stakes.Stoute will be going for his eighth title. "I think it is in Mr and Mrs Thompson's minds that it would be nice if he could win it again," said the Cheveley Park manager, Chris Richardson, yesterday, "and they'll be doing all they can to help, so long as it does not adversely affect the horses. The Champion Stakes, with a purse of over £430,000, could settle the matter at a stroke. Each of the duellists will be three-handed in the 10-furlong finale to the older-horse Group One season in Britain: O'Brien with Oratorio, the ante-post favourite, Ace and Mullins Bay, and Stoute with Maraahel, Chic and Rob Roy. Chic had been among the original entries but was taken out of the race at an earlier stage after a couple of poor runs. There is something of a feeling of all hands to the pumps this week as the battle for the trainers' championship reaches its final stages. Sir Michael Stoute is in the lead, Aidan O'Brien is nipping at his heels. In a title decided by earnings, the gap between them is £75,950, back-pocket change with the season's second-richest domestic day looming More than £1m will be up for grabs at Newmarket on Saturday.

The title of the day's feature may prove prescient on this occasion. I think everyone is a sceptic when ambitious plans like these are first announced, but I have to say that I am most impressed."Richard EdmondsonNap: Sir Gerard(Lingfield 1.50)NB: Blue Grouse(Lingfield 2.20). Facilities will be divided into just two admission bands, general at £14 for standard meetings and premier for £20. Royal meeting prices are ahead of inflation and five-day Royal Enclosure passes will cost less than at York's replacement fixture.The Silver Ring and Heath enclosures are to be retained for the Royal meeting, providing a maximum possible capacity of 80,000."This is to be a racecourse for racegoers," said the course's chief executive, Douglas Erskine-Crum For racehorses, too, apparently.

The track has a newly aligned and laid straight mile and the round course has been refurbished.Yesterday John Gosden brought several of his string to try out the relaid turf and newly cambered bends at one of the most testing racecourses to ride in the country. He gave the improvements "9.9 out of 10".He added: "It's still a stiff old track but the ridges have gone. You used to get different patches of ground all over the place here. The Royal brand could not have afforded another away week.The new Ascot has not come at a cost to its patrons. The builders were still in at Queen Anne's old place yesterday, a year and 10 days after they arrived, but have promised to be out on schedule. The first, shakedown, race meeting at what will be a state-of-the-art venue is planned for 27 May. The development at Ascot, wholesale reconstruction on a massive scale, will be slightly over-budget, costing £200m instead of £185m, but the overwhelmingly important point is that it will be on time. Those in charge of Newmarket and Newbury must stand down red alert.