The Wood Ditton and Tattersalls 3-Y-O Trophy that follows have one main theme in common: both are routinely inflated only to let down, as though the form has a slow puncture. That said, they still have their worth if kept in the here and now, as we're hopefully going to demonstrate with a bet in each.
The Wood Ditton (14:20) by its definition offers nothing to go on form-wise, being as it is for debuting three-year-olds. Finding the winner is more about putting the edge-pieces of the jigsaw in place and getting the picture from there. There certainly can't be many more promising in the short term than Fallen In Line. He boasts a useful pedigree with the requisite stamina and comes from the yard of the moment, that of John Gosden. Basem, a brother to Farhh, has unsurprisingly been popular, though whether he should be a comparable price with a horse with more than just pedigree going for him (Basem's yard have had just three runners on the British turf in 2014) is questionable.
The Tattersalls 3-Y-O trophy (14:55) gives rise to more false prophets for the Derby than anything else. Luckily, the selection could well fit into that category. Johann Strauss probably won't be good enough to win at Epsom if his two-year-old form is anything to go by, though he can get the jump on some of the more likely sorts by presenting his case first. That he remains a maiden is no concern, his form in finishing second to Kingston Hill in the Racing Post Trophy the best on offer here and his most recent run a sharpener more than anything else, this valuable contest probably the main short-term aim. What's more, the O'Brien string is starting to spark even if it hasn't truly caught fire yet. Bound to be suited by this new trip and further, a race-fit Johann Strauss sets an exacting standard.
Where the Wood Ditton and Tattersalls Trophy habitually flatter to deceive, the closing handicap (17:40) is a bellwether hidden in plain sight: Hillstar, Main Sequence and Wigmore Hall have all started their three-year-old campaigns in the race already this decade. This year's selected pattern-horse in the making is another Gosden charge, the once-raced Cloudscape. He has the pedigree you'd expect, his dam out of Irish Oaks winner Margarula, which he looked like living up to when storming home in a Kempton maiden in December, the sectionals backing up the visual impression. The fact Cloudscape was apparently the stable second-string that day is no bad thing, that he's been sent straight here an indicator that connections have learned their lesson, while a mark of 85 looks far too low if he's the horse both his breeding and the clock suggest he could be.
Timeform UK SmartPlays
All at Newmarket
Back Fallen In Line @ 3.5551/20 in the 14:20
Back Johann Strauss @ 3.1511/5 in the 14:55
Back Cloudscape @ 3.7511/4 in the 17:40
