Horses to follow: Trackside Live team with horses for My Stable

Wechaad (Roger Varian) and Harbor Lock (Charlie Appleby)

• July 26 – Ascot, British EBF Crocker Bulteel 'Confined' Maiden Stakes

Another day, another competitive maiden stakes. The good two-year-olds are coming thick and fast now, but the Crocker Bulteel on King George day at Ascot looks likely to produce plenty of subsequent winners. In fact, a line could probably have been written about every runner but we’ve restricted ourselves to two – you’re welcome.

Roger Varian’s Wechaad came into the pre-parade with a bit of presence and quickly earnt the comment on the live feed: ‘whilst looks capable of a big performance, he’s going to keep improving for experience’. He had looked novicey on debut when slow out of the stalls at Leicester and never appearing to get the hang of the racing game, but Ascot marked some improvement. Although he dwelt at the start again, the son of Oasis Dream made promising headway under Silvestre de Souza to finish one-and-three-quarter lengths behind Words Of Truth. It’s taking a while for everything to fall into place for this colt and the step up in distance is going to be a positive – dam Baarrij was successful over middle distances.

The first crop of Palace Pier are impressing physically on track and Charlie Appleby’s Harbor Lock was a good example of the type of colt the stallion is throwing. Deep-chested and big-bodied, the colt brought a relaxed attitude but looked like he would inevitably sharpen up for the run. His performance probably reflected this: prominent and promising for a long way, he faded in the final furlong to finish sixth of the seven runners.

A two-time winner over five furlongs herself, dam Sand Vixen has already produced two Black Type performers and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see a marked improvement from this colt next time. He clearly has the speed for six furlongs, as long as he doesn’t run out of puff.

Kalpana (Andrew Balding)

• July 26 – Ascot, King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes

Whilst we’ll receive no prizes for flagging the new favourite for the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe as a horse to follow, we’d be kicking ourselves if we didn’t mention that it appears Kalpana is being laid out for a trip to Paris.

Let’s give you a paddock perspective: this is a filly who had looked to be carrying a fair amount of condition on her first two runs of the season in Ireland and she looked markedly better at Ascot. She ran as such and it feels like Andrew Balding is bringing her along slowly, happy in the knowledge that Kalpana will show her best in the autumn, and potentially on softer ground.

Look back at Champions Day last year, her Fillies & Mares success was a significant step up on previous form displayed during the year - she’s an autumn girl. There’s a strong chance that any outstanding performances at Goodwood or York (think Whirl in the Yorkshire Oaks) could push Kalpana back into longer odds, so keep an eye over the next few weeks.

Red Spells Danger (Tim Easterby)

• July 25 - York, 7f Novice Stakes

Whilst her ladyship has been enjoying herself at Ascot over the weekend, I headed North to York to see what delights were on offer, and as ever, it didn’t disappoint. York’s one of those tracks that, the more you go, the more you want to go, and there’s always something you can whack on trackers that should be up to winning races.

Whilst Friday night’s novice favourite Amakhala Warrior was much more a two-year-old for now, the one to take out of this was Red Spells Danger, an altogether bigger unit that has probably taken some getting ready for this debut. A lovely, lengthy type that’s clearly going to want further than this seven furlongs, he really took the eye beforehand and you couldn’t help but be taken by the way he finished his race off for third under no more than hands-and-heels under David Allan.

On return to the paddock, he blew quite hard for some time afterwards and he knew he’d been in a race. He’ll strip a lot fitter for this next time and is absolutely one to follow as he gains experience, and goes up in trip. A lovely prospect.

Empire Of Light (Grant Tuer)

• July 26 - York, 1m Skybet Festival Handicap

In truth there were any number of badly-drawn/needing-the-run handicappers that ran well on the day I could be putting up, but Empire Of Light was not only in need of the run after 110 days off the track, but was too keen for his own good in the race and I fully expected him to drop right away late on. However, that wasn’t the case; he fought on very well and was still in there pitching with 300 yards to go, only really tiring in the very latter stages of the race, finishing a respectable eighth.

It looks like he’s had an issue, as this was his first start since finishing last of twelve at Redcar back in April, but on this effort you’d like to think there are races in him.

He was very consistent last season, winning once and hitting the places another seven times, and with the second half of the season in mind, he's one you'd want onside, particularly as he seems fairly impervious as to ground conditions too.

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