No sensible owner tells Henry Cecil when to run his horses and Prince Khaled Abdulla confirmed yesterday that the wishes of his trainer will determine plans for Twice Over. The Craven Stakes winner will bypass the stanjamesuk.com 2,000 Guineas next week and instead run in the Dante Stakes at York, with a view to targeting the Derby.

Cecil's demeanour at Newmarket last week left no one in doubt that this was his preferred route. Bookmakers continued to quote Twice Over for the Guineas, some keeping him as second favourite behind New Approach, but he has now officially defected from the opening classic.

Teddy Grimthorpe, racing manager to Abdulla, explained: “The decision was taken with the colt's long-term future in mind. If, after the Dante, it was thought the colt would not stay a mile and a half, the Prix du Jockey Club would become an option.”

Since Jim Bolger revealed that New Approach's programme does not include the Derby, Epsom has been in need of such a boost. Cecil invoked an emotional response when winning the Oaks last June and the prospect of a serious Derby contender from Warren Place raises interest in a race that will, this year, be run within a building site.

By Derby day, Nicky Richards will hope to have recruited a new jockey for his Cumbrian jumps yard. The long-serving Tony Dobbin retired a fortnight ago and Richards said yesterday that he is still trying to identify a successor. Dougie Costello rode for the yard at Perth yesterday and Dominic Elsworth will partner Monet's Garden in the Celebration Chase at Sandown tomorrow, but Richards said that little should be read into this.

“Ours is a high-profile yard of 100 horses now and we need a stable jockey,” he said. “It's been difficult to confirm riders this week and I tried hard to get Tony McCoy for Monet's. But we have some ideas and Dobbs is helping us to find the right man.”

Richards stayed at Perth yesterday while his most expensive inmate, Faasel, contested the Ladbroke.com World Series Hurdle on Punchestown's third day. He was a remote also-ran, however, behind the seven-length winner, Blazing Bailey.

The tenacious six-year-old, sent off 100-30 favourite, outstayed a competitive field to follow up his Aintree triumph for Alan King. It was a third feature race win on successive days for British stables but the sequence could be curtailed today, when Punjabi is the sole overseas raider in the ACC Bank Champion Hurdle.

Straw Bear was taken out of the race yesterday, along with the Irish-trained Sizing Europe, deemed still short of full recovery after the illness that struck him at Cheltenham.