THE early departure of Chaldean from the Greenham Stakes overshadowed the performance of Isaac Shelby (119+), although from a time perspective it was the best on the card at Newbury on Saturday.

Strangely, Andrew Balding’s colt still influenced proceedings, with Sean Levey explaining post-race that the presence of last season’s Dewhurst Stakes winner forced his mount to over race in the early exchanges of the seven-furlong contest.

The data confirms the jockey’s thoughts as the winner’s closing sectional of 39.18secs was the slowest on the straight course, confirming that the time figure was founded on the formative stages of the Group 3 race with Brian Meehan’s colt setting his rivals a searching test.

The French Guineas is reported to be the target for the son of Night Of Thunder, where connections will be hoping for soft ground to repeat the front-running tactics of Saturday.

Finishing effort

The Fred Darling Stakes was run in contrasting fashion with Remarquee (106+) producing a finishing effort only bettered by Spring Cup winner Jimi Hendrix on the day.

Jockey Rob Hornby found plenty of cover early on, although was still situated in the wide-open spaces of the middle of the track when launching his challenge as the race somewhat fell apart in front of him.

A circumstance which probably contributed to the daughter of Kingman running green before sealing the race when Stenton Glider (106) pressed her in the final 100yds.

The eventual winning margin of a neck was achieved with a closing sectional of 37.80secs, in comparison a revitalised Jimi Hendrix (103) in the first-time headgear covered the same ground in 37.44secs.

Ralph Beckett was glowing in his praise for his filly when interviewed post-race and was fully committed to Newmarket providing she comes out of her reappearance in good shape. The betting for the first fillies’ classic suggests she boasts a similar chance to Nell Gwyn winner Mammas Girl.

Grand Alliance (101) led home a finish of outsiders in the John Porter Stakes although, as the slow closing sectional of 41.62secs suggests, the form may not stand the test of time.

In comparison, Klondike (86) and the well-supported Mustazeed (102+) on his debut for new connections covered the same ground in 38.75secs and 38.63secs respectively.