BANDARI, a horse for whom cotton wool earplugs have become an essential piece of kit, is fancied to win Kempton's Group 3 September Stakes, writes COLIN WOODS.

Mark Johnston's colt has always been of nervous disposition, often sweating profusely during the preliminaries of his races, a trait which inevitably leads to below-par performances.

Realising the general hubbub of the racecourse could be to blame, the thoughtful Middleham handler decided to blot out as much background noise as possible by blocking up Bandari's ears.

The ploy has been used successfully by several trainers before and Bandari (3.15) also responded positively by winning the much sought-after Princess of Wales' Stakes at Newmarket's July meeting.

To comply with Jockey Club regulations, the earplugs must be removed before a race is under way, which in the case of Bandari's regular jockey, Richard Hills, meant being dumped on the seat of his pants prior to the Newmarket success.

"When I took the earplugs out he was so shocked he whipped round and I fell out the back door," said Hills.

"It was a good job the handler had a good hold of him."