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Teacher in pole for £10,000 - Elm Park is Wanda's ace

Her lead of 40pts over Harriet Coulson and Jesse Rae Farragherwill be extended if Qatar Racing's Elm Park (pictured) wins the Gr.1 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes sponsored by QIPCO, although Harriet has Gr.1 QIPCO Champion Stakes runner Sumbal on her side and would take the pot if he wins and Elm Park is beaten.

They are all vulnerable to a late swoop by trainer David Barron, who is right down in 18th place, 120pts behind the leader. His stable of eight horses includes Strath Burn, who runs in the Gr.1 QIPCO British Champions Sprint Stakes, and Lightning Spear, a contender for the Gr.1 QIPCO Champion Stakes. If they both win, and Elm Park is beaten, Barron would take the jackpot.

David Barron - still in the running

Wanda, who teaches French across three state primary schools in north London, and is married to BHA non-executive director Joe Saumarez-Smith, says of her entry in the competition - which benefits the charity Racing Welfare: "If I'm perfectly honest I'm not that knowledgeable about horse racing. It's more my husband Joe's passion, and I got involved in the 8 to Follow as a way of showing an interest in his interests. It was Joe who told me about the competition.

"I concentrated on older horses with proven form in Group One races. With the two-year-olds I just had to guess. In the transfer window I got lucky when I switched in two horses [Katies' Diamond and La Rioja] who looked promising and they've done really well.

"Qatar Racing has very kindly invited me to Ascot on Saturday, but I have a very long standing prior engagement which I can't extricate myself from, and Joe and our seven-year-old son Oliver are going in my place.

"In terms of spending any money I win I'm certainly not counting any chickens.... However, if things do work out we will have a considerably nicer time in Berlin when we go there on holiday over half term! Other than that I'll be saving quite a bit, giving a chunk to charity and also putting some in our future holiday fund."

In addition to the horses mentioned above, Qatar Racing and associated partnerships will also be represented on Saturday by Pallasator (Gr.1 QIPCO Long Distance Cup), Simple Verse (Gr.1 QIPCO Fillies' and Mares' Stakes), and Halation and Sacrificial in the Balmoral Handicap sponsored by QIPCO.

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