Lovelace tops International field

Mark Johnston’s Lovelace will shoulder top weight as he bids for compensation for a narrow Newmarket defeat in Saturday’s totesport International at Ascot.

The four-year-old was just edged out by Little White Lie in the Bunbury Cup on his last start but had previously won a competitive Sandown heat.

Lovelace is one of four runners for Johnston with Laa Rayb, Underworld and Thebes also lining up.

The Michael Bell-trained Redford shot to the head of the ante-post market following his impressive victory at Newcastle last month and he also features, while Gary Moore and son Ryan team up with recent scorer Hitchens.

King’s Apostle and Musaalem give William Haggas two chances, while Barry Hills is triple-handed with Zaahid, Giganticus and Slugger O’Toole.

Pascal Bary’s Objeto De Arte will not make the trip from France, while Little White Lie and Michael Jarvis’ Kal Barg are other notable absentees.