Running plans for the Haydock Park Sprint Cup have been largely unaffected by the British Horseracing Board rescheduling of the race for Friday, with each of the leading challengers likely to stand their ground despite the fact that the race will take place 24 hours earlier than originally planned. The BHB on Monday decreed that no horse racing would take place in Britain on Saturday as a mark of respect to Diana, Princess of Wales, whose funeral service takes place on Saturday morning.

And yesterday morning it was confirmed that the Group One six-furlong test had been moved to Friday, in common with the September Stakes, which will be run at Epsom on Friday.

Stewards' Cup winner Danetime, chalked up the 11 to 4 favourite in William Hill's opening book, is set to make the line-up, his trainer Neville Callaghan confirmed yesterday. "It is a day earlier but if he wasn't ready to run on the Saturday he wouldn't be ready to run on the Friday," he said.

"I think the ground will be on the soft side of good - I hear it has been raining at Haydock today - and anything other than firm is OK."