Trainer Charlie Hills is already looking forward to next year with Ibn Malik as he prepares the colt for the £75,000 Group Two At The Races Champagne Stakes at Doncaster on Ladbrokes St Leger Day, Saturday, September 12.
The son of Raven's Pass made a winning debut at Newmarket in June before going down by three quarters of a length to Galileo Gold (Hugo Palmer) when second in the Group Two Vintage Stakes at Glorious Goodwood on July 28.
Hills, based at Lambourn in Berkshire, said: "The plan is for Ibn Malik to go for the At The Races Champagne Stakes.
"I have been very pleased with him since Goodwood and he is a horse I like a lot.
"He is just very professional in his work at home and has done nothing wrong on the racecourse.
"The Vintage got a bit messy and he was very inexperienced going into it after one run. He got a bit closed in and had to race tightly, but took it all well.
"We already have half an eye on next year when I think he could be a proper horse.
"He has got the right owner (Hamdan Al Maktoum) to be patient and hopefully we will be looking at all the top races."
There are 41 entries going forward for the seven-furlong contest, including seven for Ireland's champion trainer Aidan O'Brien. The septet is led by impressive Group One Phoenix Stakes victor Air Force Blue and Air Vice Marshall, who was last seen out when second to Godolphin's Birchwood (Richard Fahey) in the Group Two Superlative Stakes at Newmarket.
Other notable acceptors include Recorder (William Haggas), winner of last week's Group Three Acomb Stakes at York, Jim Bolger's Group Two winner Herald The Dawn and eye-catching Newmarket maiden scorer Emotionless (Charlie Appleby).
At The Races is sponsoring the Champagne Stakes for the third consecutive year and Matthew Imi, Chief Executive of the broadcaster, said: "As the media partner of Doncaster Racecourse, we are delighted to once again be sponsoring the At The Races Champagne Stakes.
"Every race from the St Leger Festival will be shown live on At The Races, along with in-depth analysis from our expert team of presenters.
"It promises to be another fantastic week of racing."
