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Flat trainer:
Sir Michael Stoute hasn't won the trainers' championships since 2009, but the quick start made by his yard has been one of the stories of the Flat season so far and Stoute has already matched the five group victories his runners achieved in 2015. Indeed, the decisive successes of Exosphere (Jockey Club Stakes) and Midterm (Sandown Classic Trial) suggest this has the makings of a memorable campaign for the master of Freemason Lodge and he will have been glad to find a reason (hamstring problem) for the latter's disappointing effort in the Dante Stakes at York recently. He is still being trained with the Derby in mind and, along with impressive maiden winner Ulysses, could yet provide the trainer with a strong hand in his search for a sixth win in the Epsom classic. In the more immediate future, Stoute currently has the exciting Forge engaged on Thursday's evening card at Sandown. He is set to take his chance in what looks likely to be a warm renewal of the listed Heron Stakes, but the impression he created when getting off the mark at Doncaster last month suggests he won't be found wanting for class. Shraaoh also caught the eye at Nottingham last time and could give Stoute a winner with his first runner on the new Tapeta surface at Newcastle that same evening, while the speedily-bred Muzeel looks likely to be the yard's first two-year-old runner of the season at Chelmsford.
Jumps Trainer:
Paul Nicholls has suffered a couple of surprising reversals recently, with Monsieur Gibraltar beaten at odds of 1/3 at Bangor last Saturday and Grade 1-winning hurdler All Yours (1/5) a distant second on his chasing debut at Huntingdon on Tuesday. However, that shouldn't detract from what has been a fine run of form for the champion trainer, picking up from where he left off at the end of the 2015/16 campaign and surging into an early lead at the top of the standings for this year's trainers' championship. Only three of his last 15 runners have failed to finish in the first two and Ruddy Article, second in a point-to-point last month, could bid to record his second victory under rules at Newton Abbott on Wednesday. He simply failed to stay the trip when beaten on his chasing debut there in August and can't be ruled out on the fairly useful form he had previously showed over hurdles, while Beau Phil has a choice of engagements over the next few days. He was only narrowly denied on his penultimate start at Taunton and doesn't look too harshly treated on an opening mark of 113 for his handicap debut.
Under the Radar:
Brian Ellison likes nothing more than having winners at Newcastle racecourse and Legal Art gave the trainer his first winner on the new Tapeta surface on Tuesday. Nearly all of Ellison's runners on the Gosforth Park card ran as well as could have been expected and the trainer's runners have continued to perform with credit in the hours and days that followed. Pea Shooter finished with a rattle to score at Wetherby later that evening, while Always Resolute appeared to win with a little bit in hand at Ripon on Thursday, taking his Flat record for the yard to two wins from two starts. Indeed, the trainer has done particularly well with his recruits from other yards - Group 3 winner Balty Boys a prime example of Ellison's ability to revive the fortunes of such runners - and he appears to be slowly finding the key to Total Power. A winner for the Iain Jardine yard in July, he returned to that sort of form when staying on for a never nearer fifth at Doncaster last month and shaped as if he was ready for a step up in trip. He can consolidate that view with a good run at Windsor on Monday, while the trainer is bound to be well-represented on Thursday's card at Newcastle. Miss Ranger and Tallinski look two of his better chances at this stage, the latter considered a fairly useful prospect after finishing second at Musselburgh on his most recent outing.
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