Harry Bentley will press pause on his holiday to ride Spicy Marg in Friday’s Group One Nunthorpe Stakes (1,000m) at York.

The 33-year-old was back in the UK after a 31-winner campaign in Hong Kong last season but has received an unexpected call-up for one of the feature races of this week’s Ebor Festival at York.

The Nunthorpe commonly sees the younger horses take on their elders and Spicy Marg, just a two-year-old, will carry a tiny weight as she bids to become the first two-year-old since Kingsgate Native in 2007 to win the prize.

Bentley will have to get down to just 8st 2lb to take the ride, but he did not need too much convincing by trainer Michael Bell to take the ride.

“It was a very pleasant surprise, it was a bit of divine intervention to get the ride,” Bentley told Luck On Sunday.

“I just happened to be in the right place at the right time, seeing Michael Bell in the owner’s room, and a couple of days later he rang me and asked if I was able to do the weight, would it be of interest to ride Spicy Marg.

“Obviously I was very happy to take the ride. I wouldn’t say it’s comfortable [riding at 8st 2lb] but I can certainly do it. I’m doing light weights very often in Hong Kong, so getting down to this sort of weight is fairly routine for me.”

With the ride secured, Bentley is also hunting around for further opportunities at York this week before his return to Hong Kong.

“I’m certainly trying to get some more opportunities – I’m hoping to ride on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, and I’ve got my agent Paul Clarke on the case to try and further bolster my book of rides,” added Bentley.

Badel and Teetan join All-Star line-up in Japan

Alexis Badel and Karis Teetan will compete at the World All-Star Jockeys (WASJ) at Sapporo Racecourse in Japan this weekend.

Badel, who has been based out in Japan during the off season, will also be joined by Craig Williams, who rode Cap Ferrat to Group One glory in Hong Kong this season.

It will be another competition for Teetan this off season, with the Mauritian also forming part of the Rest of the World team at the Shergar Cup meeting at Ascot earlier this month alongside Hugh Bowman.

Joao Moreira won the event 12 months ago, with Teetan finishing fifth and Vincent Ho Chak-yiu finishing eighth.

Bowman and Teetan fall foul of Ascot stewards

The enormous difference between the whip rules in Hong Kong and the UK was highlighted last week when Hugh Bowman and Karis Teetan were banned for a combined 20 days for breaching the rules.

Bowman, who won the Silver Saddle after being the leading rider at the meeting, was hit with 12 days for using his whip once above the permitted level, in the incorrect place and without giving one of his horses enough time to respond.

Teetan was slapped with an eight-day ban for using his whip once above the permitted level.