Baylay is by no means a forlorn hope for the eight-runner Maiden 3-y-o Stakes over ten furlongs of good ground Chester this afternoon when the prestigious three-day Cup fixture heralds this first week of May, exciting times.
Speaking of times, and their reliability, King's Mimic landed this column a real 5/1 beaut at Beverley, Monday, and our decision to continually specialise with two-year-olds and all set-weight races is, yet again, paying off; after only eleven days we are back in the top ten of the Racing Post Naps Table with a decent profit.
The objective, as ever, is to win it for a record eighth time but it's a long season and my focus has to be 100 per cent; not so easy but as the advert says, 'you're worth it!'
I've dedicated my racing life to readers of the daily columns, the satisfaction when such as King's Mimic prevails is still immense; long may that be the case because, realistically, you simply can't beat experience. Oh to do it all again and bring common sense into the equation far moreso.
Life is about here and now however and Baylay, trained by 78-year-old Barry Hills for Hamdan Al Maktoum, is certainly capable of going close and grabbing one of three places; by extensive process of elimination only four can be considered.
Twice-raced Baylay comes out similarly to Keble but John Gosden's charge hasn't raced beyond a mile and you can bet Dane O'Neill will be told to force the issue and sort out the wheat from the chaff.
Aidan O'Brien brings over superbly-bred, once-raced Sir Isaac Newton; he'll probably win but never underestimate genius and can you imagine the furore if Mr Chester walks into the Chester winners' enclosure?
An easy surface is a prime requisite for top-rated Duke Of Firenze in the Conditions Stakes over five furlongs; from the in-form yard of sprinting specialist Robert Cowell!
There's been more than 25 millimetres of rainfall since Saturday which will change turf surfaces and so we're looking at Captain Navarre in the Maiden Stakes over ten furlongs of Chelmsford polytrack for the daily patent third leg; what beats him will win.