Phoenix Of Dreams makes his fifth career start for the club this afternoon in the Class 5 Maiden Stakes (16:45) over six furlongs at Southwell.

Read our Raceday LIVE Preview below and join us ahead of the race for all the build-up and live updates from the track with the team and Phoenix Of Dreams' lucky owners for the day across our social channels on X (@coral) and Instagram (@coralofficial).

Raceday LIVE Preview

Phoenix Of Dreams returns to action today following a short break since his last run at Chepstow in July. In his four runs to date, the club's three-year-old gelding has never finished outside of the top four, including a third place finish and two seconds.

In his most recent start, he finished a very credible second on handicap debut in a seven furlong contest at Chepstow. The race was won by Miss Information, who came close to winning valuable handicaps in her two subsequent runs and as a result, has shot up the ratings to a now 15lb higher mark.

Today's contest is a really exciting one for Phoenix Of Dreams as he enters slightly unknown territory. Firstly, it's his all-weather debut, and secondly, it will be his first start dropping back to six furlongs. The good news is he does plenty of his work at home on a synthetic surface, so trainer Sean Quinn has no concerns about how he'll take to it. And on top of that, Sean has also told us how he believes Phoenix Of Dreams is starting to show more pace as he's gaining more experience, which bodes well for his first attempt over the shorter distance this afternoon.

WATCH: Sean Quinn catches up with Phoenix Of Dreams and discusses his chances ahead of today's race

When Phoenix Of Dreams was declared on Wednesday, we caught up with Sean, and he was keen to emphasise how he believes Phoenix "seems to be getting faster as he gets older" and that some of his work "has been really sharp of late", so fingers crossed he can break well from the gates in stall 3 and show exactly that later today.

We do drop back into maiden company this afternoon, meaning there are several opponents who have either never raced before or have only raced a few times and are yet to win. Mockirr for the William Haggas team is one of those newcomers, and this three-year-old gelding cost €110,000 and is by Group 2 6f winner, Tasleet, so he'll be one to keep an eye on. At the top of the market is Smart Hero, and on current ratings he's rated 4lb higher than Phoenix Of Dreams, but he's another who's yet to race over 6f, so it'll be interesting to see if he has the early speed to take them from the front or if he'll be held up and looking to swoop late.

Jason Hart partners Phoenix Of Dreams for the fourth time today, having only not taken the reins in one of our three-year-old's races to date. The experienced jockey, who rides frequently for the Quinns, will have formed a good relationship with Phoenix Of Dreams at this point, and his knowledge of our gelding should put him in good stead going into the race.

Jason Hart onboard Phoenix Of Dreams in the parade ring before his debut at Thirsk

Trainer and Jockey Statistics

John & Sean Quinn have been in fine fettle recently, sending out three winners in the last fortnight, two of which came from the Ebor Festival at York where their only two entries, Jm Jungle (Class 2 Heritage Handicap) and Breege (Group 2 City of York Stakes), both scored with convincing victories. Tonight's location isn't one that the Quinns have frequented, with John only sending 16 runners there in his time as a sole trainer, and the father and son duo sent their first runner to Southwell last night, Tropez Power, at the Racing League Finale. 

Jason Hart has been kept very busy in the last fortnight, picking up 51 rides in total. From those he's only been successful twice, but a staggering 17 of them have finished either second or third, so there's no doubt he'll be hoping he can add to his winners tally this afternoon. At Southwell, Hart has ridden 73 winners in his career, of which thirteen have come so far this season, and to a level stake investment, he's up a very solid 29 points on his rides there this year.

Phoenix Of Dreams' Owners for the Day

As winners of the Owner for the Day competition, 10 lucky Coral Racing Club members have been given the chance to enjoy an exclusive owners experience for Phoenix Of Dreams' run at Southwell this evening. 

Each winner, along with a guest of their choosing, will receive free entry to Southwell Racecourse, including exclusive access to Owners & Trainers areas. They'll have the opportunity to meet Phoenix Of Dreams and the John & Sean Quinn team, plus get to head into the parade ring before the race begins to be amongst all the other owners, trainers and jockeys. And last but by no means least, each winner will get to take home an equal 10% split of any prize money won by Phoenix Of Dreams.

Prize Money

Today's Class 5 contest is worth £7,300 in total, with the winner set to scoop £3,942 for their lucky owners.

2nd: £1,850.55 | 3rd: £925.64 | 4th: £462.82

Racing Post | Spotlight Comment on Phoenix Of Dreams

Promise in maiden/novice events at up to 7.5f and he showed improved form when second to an improving filly on last month's handicap debut at Chepstow; worth a crack at 6f and he won't need much improvement to play a leading role.

Today's Opposition

• Smart Hero is the short price favourite in the race, having finished second in two of his four outings, including when beaten by a neck in his last race at the start of the month. He's been raised three pounds for that performance, and is currently rated four pounds higher than Phoenix Of Dreams.
  
  
• Inherit carries the famous Cheveley Park colours into the race and has been dropped one pound to a mark of 74 following her disappointing handicap debut. Prior to that race he finished third and second in contests over a mile and seven furlongs respectively, and now she drops back to six furlongs for the first time.
  
  
• Mockirr is the first of two debutants that lineup in today's field, and he was purchased for 110,000 euros for the powerful William Haggas yard as a yearling but wasn't raced in his two-year-old season. Kranjcar is the other debutant in the field and is no doubt named after former Portsmouth footballer Niko Kranjčar for owners Pompey Ventures. He has a solid pedigree being by 6f Group winner Acclamation and was bought for 150,000 guineas as a yearling before being resold for 36,000 guineas in May.

    SOUTHWELL 16:45 – LATEST BETTING HERE    

We hope you enjoyed reading today's Raceday LIVE Preview. Don't forget to tune in just before 16:45 to watch Phoenix Of Dreams' next run for the club live on the Coral Sports app.