Whiteoak Gets Murphy At Ascot...strong fancy for Saturday!

Timmy Murphy has been snapped up to ride Whiteoak in the 1942 Was A Vintage Year Mares' Hurdle at Ascot on Saturday.

The seven-year-old was an impressive winner against her own sex at Kempton on her penultimate start, but then had her limitations exposed back against the boys in the Long Walk at Newbury.

With trainer Donald McCain also assembling a strong team for Haydock's high-profile Saturday meeting, where stable jockey Jason Maguire will be in action, Murphy will ride the talented mare for the first time.

"Whiteoak will take her chance at Ascot, all being well, and Timmy Murphy will ride," said McCain.

"The ground is probably going to be softer than ideal, but she saw out three miles well at Kempton against the mares a couple of starts ago, so hopefully she'll be fine.

"She always does well against the mares and there aren't many you'd be too worried about."