The fugue and winsili expected to lead the charge

Gosden reckons The Fugue is as good a filly as he has trained – she should have won both the Oaks and Filly & Mare Turf last season – and his decision to keep her going as a four-year-old was vindicated when she produced an awesome display to win Knavesmire’s G1 for the “ladies” by an emphatic four lengths.

Fast ground brings out the best in The Fugue, and Gosden said: “Knowing the British climate as we do, we (Lord and Lady Lloyd-Webber are the owner-breeders) formed a programme that started with the Breeders Cup in November and worked backwards.

“We are almost guaranteed to get our ground in California, but The Fugue had a nightmare run in a slow-run Filly & Mare Turf last year, and with that in mind we think that we would be better off taking on the colts in the Turf this time around as we would have an extra 400 metres to deal with any traffic congestion.

“It will obviously be tougher against the ‘boys’, but Pebbles pulled it off, and I have always thought The Fugue was that sort of class.

“I had been delighted with her comeback run at Royal Ascot an thought she would be very hard to beat in the Eclipse, but she ran a shocker and came back full of mucus, so it was a case of giving her time to regroup and, happily, she was back on song at York.

“We still have Winsili for the Filly & Turf. She might have been a big price at Goodwood, but we did not take her down there for the shellfish and expected her to run a big race. She is a classy filly and the 2000m suits her well.”

Another Breeders Cup-bound horse is Aidan O’Brien’s top-of-the-ground specialist Declaration Of War, who has been peppering the wire at the top level since he won the Queen Anne at Royal Ascot but found his way back into the bullseye when lowering the colours of both Al Kazeem and Toronado in the £750,000 G1 Juddmonte International at York.

O’Brien compared Declaration of War’s amazing durability – it was his fifth race at G1 level in two months – with the phenomenal Giant’s Causeway, who was beaten in the Breeders Cup Classic in controversial circumstances in 2000, and that Santa Anita finale on the dirt will be the target for Coolmore’s new ‘Iron Horse’.

Declaration of War had finished behind Al Kazeem in the Eclipse and also had a rear view of Toronado in the Sussex, but another bout of fast ground finally did for the mud-loving Al Kazeem, while Toronado ran no race at all and coughed afterwards, so, inevitably, there will be questions raised about the Juddmonte form.

The “big two” were also gunned down in the Nunthorpe, the G1 speed dash, with both Shea Shea and Sole Power unable to peg back 40-1 shot Jwala on ground that had softened up by the final day of the meeting.

All three could renew rivalry in the Prix de l’Abbaye at Longchamp on Arc day, but Shea Shea and Sole Power are definitely more effective when their hooves are rattling, and you usually need an umbrella in Paris on October, so punters beware.

One-time Derby favourite Telescope finally showed the racing world what Sir Michael Stoute sees every morning on the Newmarket gallops when winning the G2 Great Voltigeur Stakes, but, while this race is a traditional St Leger trial, connections are uncertain whether this magnificent specimen will have the stamina for the world’s oldest classic, and either the Arc or the Champion Stakes at Ascot are more likely targets for a colt, who is part-owned by former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson and who remains in training next season.

****

John Gosden has never won the 2000 Guineas, but bookmakers feel that he has a legitimate candidate for next year’s Newmarket colts classic in KINGMAN, who can rubber-stamp his claims by winning the G2 Solario Stakes at Sandown on Saturday.

Aidan O’Brien’s War Command, so impressive when winning the Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot, redeemed himself in last week’s G2 Futurity at The Curragh, having blotted his copybook in the Phoenix Stakes, but Kingman retained pole-position in the ante-post market, and the 8-1 available in places will disappear quickly if he delivers on the Esher slopes.

Obviously, this is a big test for Kingman, who only won a maiden on his debut at Newmarket on Irish Derby day, but Gosden, who knows the family well, reckons he is the best foal his French 1000 Guineas winner has produced, and even before that first race he was being touted around as one of the stable’s most exciting prospects.

It was the manner of Kingman’s success which left such a lasting impression. Gosden never revs his two-year-olds up on the gallops, and invariably they fall out of the stalls on their debut and run green.

However, Kingman was the exception to the rule. He bounced out of the gates like an old pro and clearly knew his job, travelling like a dream throughout and powering clear to win what looked a decent maiden by six lengths.

The form of the race has worked out well, and it will be a surprise – and a personal disappointment as I snapped up the 16-1 and 14-1 for the Guineas after Newmarket – if Kingman does not take another step up the ladder towards stardom.

We can get the stake money for Kingman by backing stablemate SEEK AGAIN in the 1600m handicap at Kempton tonight (Weds). He only just got going in time to win over the 1400m at Newmarket last time, so the step up in trip should bring about further improvement.

Gosden could also do us a turn in the maiden at Sandown on Friday, courtesy of TOAST OF THE TOWN, while he can win the nursery on the same track 24 hours later with HUNTERS CREEK, who has bags of pace and looks to have been let in lightly off a mark of 79.

Toast of the Town should have won before now, but it was probably a hot maiden in which she finished third at Newmarket last time – the winner followed up by defying a mark of 90 in his first handicap back on the track next time – and Toast of the Town, who has always been highly rated by Gosden, can gain an overdue first win here.

Finally, at Sandown on Saturday, CHIGUN should win the Listed Atlanta Stakes for Lady Cecil. This filly, successful in G3 company at The Curragh, was only beaten three lengths by Elusive Kate in the G1 Prix Rothschild at Deauville last time, and she will appreciate this drop in grade.