Force on hat-trick mission in Maurice de Gheest

Lethal Force will face 13 rivals, including Tom Hogan’s Gordon Lord Byron and Aidan O’Brien’s Gale Force Ten, as he bids for a Group 1 hat-trick in tomorrow’s Prix Maurice de Gheest at Deauville.

Clive Cox’s four-year-old has really come of age this season, stepping up on his narrow second in the Duke of York Stakes in May to land clear-cut victories in the Diamond Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot and the July Cup at Newmarket.

His one-and-a-half-length defeat of Society Rock last month confirmed his position at the top of the European sprinting tree but he steps up to six and a half furlongs this time.