No Erling Haaland at Euro 2024 - but he has a reason to be invested at York on Saturday

Erling Haaland may not be at Euro 2024 after Norway failed to qualify, but the horse named after the prolific striker – The Strikin Viking – is set to be unleashed by football-mad Middleham Park Racing at York on Saturday.

The juvenile son of Inns Of Court, who cost 65,000gns from the breeze-up sales and is trained by Kevin Ryan, is set to sport the all-blue strip of the syndicate in a 6f maiden on the Knavesmire. 

Tim Palin, racing manager to Middleham Park Racing, is a big Manchester City fan, as is his son Tom, and he said the syndicate had saved the name for the right horse.

"Just like his namesake, the horse has a great physique and a great mind, and he’s already had a couple of away days to sharpen him up," he said. 

"York is not straightforward for a newcomer, but we’ll see on Saturday whether he’s premier league or not."

The 23-year-old Haaland won the Golden Boot for a second successive year last month when registering 27 goals in the Premier League but will not be able to add to his remarkable tally of 31 goals in 33 senior appearances for his country after Norway could finish only third behind Spain and Scotland in their qualifying group.

Palin said: "It’s not beyond question that the man himself could come along as Norway are not in the Euros and York is not far from Leeds, where he was born. If he’s in the vicinity, he could pop along.”

The Manchester City connection has attracted fans of the Premier League champions to the LXXIX syndicate as Palin explained: “There are many Man City fans in the syndicate such as Tony and Keith Denham, who are season-ticket holders. When we met them in Middleham one day and they were thinking of joining us, the fact we were City fans sealed the deal.”

Over the years Middleham Park have had many other City-themed names, including De Bruyne Horse, Sergeant Pep, Blueflagflyinghigh and Ninetythreetwenty, the last-named the time of the famous Sergio Aguero goal against QPR that sealed their first Premier League title in 2012.  

England kick off their Euro 2024 campaign against Serbia on Sunday and Middleham Park also have a name up their sleeves connected to a star forward with City connections who is sure to feature.

Palin added: “We haven’t got a horse in mind yet, but we’ve reserved the name Filly Foden and hopefully we can get a breeze-up horse in the coming weeks who fits the bill. Hopefully, just like Phil, she will be fleet of foot and can hit the back of the net.”

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