My Stable Eyecatchers from Newmarket Craven Meeting

Benbatl - Saeed bin Suroor

3rd, bet365 Craven Stakes (click to watch free replay)

There was no stopping Eminent once he hit the front and grabbed the rising ground in the bet365 Craven Stakes on Thursday and he looks a horse Martyn Meade can really start to dream with.

Whether he'll have the turn of foot to win a Guineas remains open to question as he took a while to master Racing Post Trophy winner Rivet. The Derby could obviously come under consideration for the son of Frankel if he performs with credit back here on May 6.

Rivet is very solid and looks like he's trained on but third home Benbatl still has the potental to improve past him and the Godolphin runner is the one to take from the race.

He was very impressive on his Doncaster debut earlier in the month and without question built on the bare form here, though he could have gone even closer if he hadn't raced so enthusiastically for Silvestre de Sousa.

Despite fighting for his head for the first couple of furlongs, Benbatl did eventually get on an even keel and he came alongside the winner when racing into the Dip.

He just edged fractionally right after possibly becoming a little unbalanced and couldn't quite match the first two in the final furlong but it was a race full of promise and should have taught him a great deal.

Noble Manners - Mark Johnston

4th, bet365 EBF Maiden Fillies Stakes (click to watch free replay)

Formidable Kitt was very well talked-up ahead of her debut in the sprint maiden and she didn't disappoint. Tom Dascombe's filly looks potentially out of the top drawer and this race is expected to throw up its share of future winners.

Noble Manners is bred to be extremely sharp as her dam New Story won over the minimum trip at two, but Mark Johnston's runner looks to need a sixth furlong already and certainly showed enough to suggest she'll be winning races.

A big, rangy daughter of Myboycharlie, she was tardy at the start and changed her legs on a number of occasions as Silvestre de Sousa switched her out wide to come for a run.

The leaders had gone by the time the penny really dropped but she eventually got the hang of things and stuck at it despite not being given too hard a time.

A maiden over six in the north looks a formality on this evidence.

Dancing Breeze - John Gosden

1st, bet365 EBF Stallions Maiden Fillies' Stakes (click to watch free replay)

Putting up winners in eyecatcher features may be deemed as something of a cop-out, but some maiden scorers just have to be followed and Dancing Breeze could hardly have been more impressive at Newmarket on Wednesday.

She was drawn out towards the centre of the track in stall 10 and immediately tanked her way to the front of her group after the field split.

Dettori got her into a lovely rhythm and she bowled along stylishly before picking up in the final couple of furlongs.

The lack of racecourse experienced showed as she drifted right but she always seemed to have the measure of Natavia and Dettori didn't have the easiest time in pulling her up after the line.

The daughter of New Approach looks well above average and could be tackling Pattern company in the not too distance future.

Mark Of Approval - John Gosden

3rd, bet365 Wood Ditton Maiden Stakes (click to watch free replay)

Godolphin won the Wood Ditton Stakes after Night Circus outfought Richard Hannon’s filly Jalela, and it’s reasonable to suggest they could easily have had the one-two if Mark Of Approval had not fluffed his lines at the start.

John Gosden’s runner didn’t react brilliantly when the stalls opened and that immediately put him on the back foot. James Doyle gathered him together as they settled down into a nice rhythm in the stands side group and the son of Lemon Drop Kid moved as well as anything throughout the first half of the contest.

The response wasn’t immediate when Doyle asked for an effort but the horses picked up nicely two furlongs from the finish and was the only one from the chasing pack to make any sort of impression on the first two.

He powered home up the rising ground to the line and was only beaten three-quarters of a length, and a neck, while he had passed the principal pair a few strides after the line.

There are definitely races to be won with Mark Of Approval and while a step up in trip would clearly benefit him in time (middle-distance performers on dam’s side of the pedigree), a better start next time should see him off the mark.

Areen Faisal - Richard Fahey

3rd,  Montaz Restaurant EBF Stallions Novice Stakes (click to watch free replay)

Areen Faisal stumbled slightly at a crucial moment having been sent off a well-backed 5/1 chance in the five furlong maiden.

One of two runners in the race for Richard Fahey and owner Sheikh Abdullah Almalek Alsabah, he looked pretty fit going to post for his first racecourse appearance and although not the sharpest away from the gate, he was obviously getting the hang of things under Paul Hanagan prior to taking a false step as they went into the Dip.

It probably didn’t cost the colt victory as Sound And Silence and Never Back Down burst clear to battle it out, but Areen Faisal stayed on encouragingly to take third without being given a particularly hard time and he rates a winner in waiting.

Afaak - Charles Hills

4th, Alex Scott Maiden Stakes (click to watch free replay)

Jewel House “got the run of the race” in the Alex Scott Maiden, according to winning trainer John Gosden and it could be a race in which several of the beaten horses are worth following.

There was positivity in the market for eventual third Firefright and he was far from disgraced after becoming a little unbalanced a furlong and a half from the finish, but Jeremy Noseda’s runner has had a few chances now and is likely to continue to bump into one or two less exposed rivals in races of this nature.

The obvious future maiden scorer is Charles Hills’ Afkaal, who briefly threatened to plant himself in the stalls but soon got the hang of things under Dane O’Neill.

He was bumped along at the back for a couple of strides but it just looked a case of his first day at school catching him out and the way he responded to O’Neill waving the whip was encouraging.

There was nothing finishing stronger at the end of the seventh furlong, ending up fourth in a bunched finish for the minor honours, and this choicely-bred son of Oasis Dream should thrive once tackling a mile and further.

His dam Ghanaati won the 1000 Guineas and her half-brother Mawatheeq scored over a mile and a half, so this trip was obviously the bare minimum and he could definitely develop into the best horse in this race.