Syndicate headed by midfielder James Milner hopes buy can cause upset in Newmarket’s Dewhurst Stakes

At Tattersalls’ famous sales ring a mile or so from the racecourse, the football super-agent Kia Joorabchian has spent the week going head to head with the sovereign wealth of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum of Dubai, securing nearly £20m worth of yearlings for his Amo Racing operation next season.

And the beautiful game could be about to grab a piece of the action on Newmarket’s Rowley Mile too. Seagulls Eleven, a two-year-old colt owned by 11 of Brighton’s current and former players, is among a field of six runners for the Group One Dewhurst Stakes on Saturday, the most historic and prestigious juvenile race of the season, and Hugo Palmer, his trainer, will head to the track in a positive frame of mind.