Two Irish hopes in Imperial Cup field

JESSICA HARRINGTON’S Alpine Eagle and Prince Of Fire from Charlie Swan’s stable will carry Irish hopes in the Paddy Power Imperial Cup at Sandown tomorrow.

Ronaldo Des Mottes heads a maximum field of 24. David Pipe’s charge will attempt to defy top-weight of 11st 12lb in the valuable handicap hurdle and will be accompanied by stablemate Arrayan, who is the 6-1 favourite with the sponsors following the 48-hour final declaration stage.

As expected, Aegean Dawn, who had been ante-post favourite for the race, was withdrawn after failing to sparkle in a schooling session on Wednesday.