Graham Gibbons will get the leg-up on Hoof It for the first time this season as he has a second shot at Group One glory in Saturday's Betfred Sprint Cup at Haydock.
Mick Easterby's speedster is enjoying a hugely successful campaign, winning a couple of valuable handicaps at York before producing a breathtaking display under top-weight when landing the Stewards' Cup at Glorious Goodwood.
The four-year-old returned to the Knavesmire as favourite for the Nunthorpe but, after a tardy start, he and regular partner Kieren Fallon came home a slightly disappointing sixth. With Fallon required at Ascot to ride for his retaining trainer Luca Cumani, Gibbons, who guided Hoof It to three victories in 2010, will be back in the saddle on Merseyside.
Easterby said: "Kieren is going to Ascot, so Graham is going to ride Hoof It. It shouldn't be a problem and Graham is going to ride the horse in work on Tuesday morning. I think the horse should be better back over six (furlongs) and hopefully we get some drying weather."
Gibbons is understandably delighted to have got the call, and is fully anticipating a big run.
He said: "I've won on him a few times before, and I think that had a bearing on it - obviously I am delighted to get back on him. The boss rang me first thing to see if I would be able to ride, and of course I said yes. It would be brilliant for me if he could go and win a Group One.
"Things didn't go right for him at York and the step back up to six can only help. The ground at York was debatable. He is ideally suited by good ground, but he is by Monsieur Bond and he loved it like a bog. He has yet to run on soft ground, so if it did end up like that it would be an unknown."
The two possible Irish challengers are Edward Lynam's Sole Power and Bewitched from the Charles O'Brien stable. The latter was a big disappointment when sent off favourite for the Golden Jubilee, but O'Brien feels she is back to her best.
The trainer said: "She's an intended runner all going well and I'm very happy with her. She was in quite a bad way after Ascot and very sore and it has taken a while to get her right, but I think she's back on song now. She worked after racing at the Curragh on Sunday and I was pleased with her, so fingers crossed she'll run well.
"I don't think the ground matters too much to her, we just don't want extremes either way."
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