South African ace Whisky Baron turns up the revs for Joel Stakes at Newmarket

The five-year-old, who is trained by Brett Crawford, won the Group One Sun Met at Kenilworth back in January before embarking upon a three-month quarantine period in Mauritius, finally arriving in Newmarket in June.

Whisky Baron galloped with two William Haggas-trained companions over five furlongs on the Rowley Mile on Monday morning and his regular rider Greg Cheyne felt the ground, which is officially described as good to soft, was far from ideal.

He said: "It was an interesting workout as we have always had a concern that Whisky Baron might not relish soft ground and, although I was not disappointed and feel quite positive about it, it did expose the fact that he doesn't handle soft going particularly well.

"He travelled kindly for the first couple of furlongs but once the undulations started, he found it testing. He maintained his speed but couldn't quicken.

"He felt as good as I can ever remember him - he's in a good place at the moment and we couldn't be happier with him, so our only concern for now is the ground.

"I feel that he is ready for a race, but we need the weather gods to be on our side. He has been off the track since January and is bound to be a bit rusty, but this experience will do him the world of good.

"He is one of the best horses that I have ever ridden."