‘He is an absolute star and has a heart like a lion’

There isn’t a plethora of Group races over 7f for older horses, but Saturday’s Hungerford Stakes at Newbury has rarely been a strong race at this level, only a couple of the 11 renewals since it was promoted to Group 2 level producing top-class performances (Paco Boy in 2008 and Excelebration in 2011).