Newmarket eye-catchers: six horses to follow from the Guineas Festival

This Listed heat over a mile and a quarter is invariably a strong race for the level, having been won by Group winners Hawkbill. Permian, Mishriff, Mohaafeth, Nations Pride and Castle Way to name just a few over the past decade or so.

This year's winner Ancient Egypt also looks smart, with his only defeat in four starts coming in the Royal Lodge won by Bow Echo last autumn.

The horse to get closest to Charlie Johnston’s colt was My Love Is King, who ran with huge credit on his third start and first start in Pattern company, and being a Normandie Stud homebred, is surely likely to improve with age and distance.

Out of a Lancashire Oaks runner-up, he is from a family deep in black-type that also includes Coronation stakes winner Fallen For You.

He is unlikely to take up his entry in the Derby, but he is fully capable of getting his head in front in either handicap or Stakes company over middle distances should he settle better in the early stages.

The form of his second-placed effort at Newbury last month also looks a decent piece of form at this stage, the winner Maltese Cross is a best-priced 8-1 for both the Chester Vase and Dante Stakes over the coming weeks.

Silver Ghost needed her first run of the season last year and followed up her sixth at Newbury with two successive victories. Given she improves for racing, this return to action was hugely encouraging.

Whereas the front two eyeballed each other on the nearside, Emma Lavelle’s grey filly was more isolated towards the far side, yet still ran on strongly and finished within just half a length of the runner-up.

This was her first run for 216 days and looks capable of scoring next time out over this trip should she improve for the outing – the seven-furlong handicap she won impressively at Goodwood last year appeals as an obvious target in three weeks’ time.

Consider added runner-up Golden Redemption to your Racing TV Tracker, too. He wouldn’t have won, but he would have finished closer to the winner had he not been carried right in the closing stages.

Gelded ahead of this seasonal debut over a mile and a half, George Boughey’s four-year-old did well to finish third in a race in which it paid to be handy, and it looks a strong piece of form.

His runner-up efforts at Doncaster and Leicester in the autumn had already been franked, and though he has winning form in testing ground, he seemingly didn’t enjoy the extreme test when signing off his season with a ninth-placed finish in the November Handicap.

His time over the final three furlongs was the fastest of the race, as was his Finishing Speed Percentage (FSP) of 107.44 per cent. Given his connections, this long striding son of New Bay could be one for the Duke Of Edinburgh Stakes at the Royal meeting.

Another George Boughey runner for the notebook, Survie was sent off at 9-2 for her domestic turf debut for her new yard having already won on the all-weather and placed in the Neom Turf Cup in Saudi Arabia.

The bare result, beaten over ten lengths by the winner, was disappointing, but she walked out of the stalls, immediately costing her several lengths, and for a mare who stays a mile and a half, it was always going to a tall order thereafter to quicken past her nine rivals.

She stayed on well, briefly looking like she might challenge, and grabbed third despite a slightly awkward head carriage and a trip short of her best. A return to slightly easier ground over at least a furlong further should see her to better effect and this Classic runner-up is fully capable of gaining more black-type later this season should she break on terms.

Andrew Balding’s charge shaped with huge promise at three, winning four times and placing in two others, but he was disappointing in his first two starts of last season before a creditable ninth in the Ebor and a win in the Mallard at Doncaster. 

Raised 4lb for that latest win on this seasonal reappearance, his first run for 233 days, he found himself down the unfavoured centre of the course in this mile and three-quarter handicap and was out of camera shot two furlongs and a furlong from home, yet he ran on very strongly as he hit the rising ground to grab fourth under hands and heels.

The ground may have been a touch livelier than the five-year-old would have ideally liked but he shaped with enough promise to suggest he is one to keep on side going forwards.

His time of 12.21 seconds in the final furlong was the fastest of the 12-strong field, and his FSP of 108.97 per cent was the highest in the race bar the winner, who was given a great ride.

He is entered in both the Yorkshire Cup and Ascot Gold Cup, and whilst those targets are ambitious, he has a big performance him off this mark and may be worth a try over two miles at some stage.

It was experience that held away in the penultimate race of the meeting, the first three home in this novice all having raced previously, but despite that, Andrew Balding’s son of Blackbear was sent off the 15-8 favourite.

In truth, he did little wrong, but did not seem to handle the track’s undulations in the final two furlongs as well as those in front of him and looked done for speed at a crucial part of the race.

He is likely to have learnt plenty from this experience and he is also a late foal (May 28) so it is impressive that he has even seen a racecourse quite as early as he has.

Clearly held in good regard by connections, se can win a similar race next time on a flatter track and may well be suited by a furlong further – his dam won the Sceptre Stakes over seven furlongs.