THERE were a few eyebrows raised when no Charlie Appleby-trained horse was among the final declarations for the National Stakes on Irish Champions Weekend last month.

The Godolphin trainer had won three of the last four renewals of that seven-furlong Group 1 - he also had the beaten favourite in the other - and two of those three winners (Native Trail and Pinatubo) came on to the Dewhurst (3.00) to confirm their superiority, before they were named champion two-year-old colts.

But you can only play the cards in your hand and despite the fact he already has four wins from four runs, it very much seems like Naval Power is viewed as next year’s horse and a trip to the Curragh as well as taking in today’s contest would have been asking too much too soon.

With that said, Appleby still sounded confident in the son of Teofilo this week.

“He has got a great profile going into the race and I feel he won’t look out of place and is one of the horses they are going to have to beat,” the Godolphin trainer said. “As you have seen he is a different horse to the likes of Pinatubo and on pedigree he is different. This is very much a horse that is a three-year-old.

“Pinatubo and Native Trail, they were solid campaign two-year-olds that went in with solid Group 1 juvenile form behind them.

“This horse has, I feel, been nurtured to a level with very much a three-year-old middle-distance pedigree on him so I’ve not wanted to put him to the sword by taking on the sharper individuals earlier in the season.

“This is his time to go up on the top table and prove himself to be worthy of racing at that level and putting himself into a classic picture for next season.”

Naval Power’s primary rivals are two Juddmonte colts, Nostrum and Chaldean, for Sir Michael Stoute and Andrew Balding.

Nostrum is a most intriguing contender, bidding to become his trainer’s first juvenile Group 1 winner since 2003, when he won the Fillies’ Mile with Red Bloom. It’s 36 years since he won the Dewhurst with Ajdal.

Nostrum, a son of Kingman, impressed in the manner of his victory over Holloway Boy in the Group 3 Tattersalls Stakes.

He does however have to defy his own inexperience, having run just twice - the last colt to win here off just two runs was Shamardal in 2004.

Chaldean looks more solid in that regard and he demonstrated his progression by increasing his superiority over Indestructible, runner-up to him in the Acomb and then Champagne Stakes, but much further adrift in the latter.

Aidan O’Brien runs Aesop’s Fables, a little disappointing in the National Stakes, but St Mark’s Basilica was also beaten at the Curragh before winning here.

THE Group 3 Staffordstown Stud Stakes (2.00) is a race with plenty of interesting fillies but perhaps none more so than Michael O’Callaghan’s Gozen.

The daughter of Kuroshio won from a most unpromising position on her debut at Punchestown and the form of that contest, namely through the runner-up Basil Martini, has worked out very well since.

That has given her trainer confidence ahead of Gozen taking a step up to Group 3 company today.

“She did plenty wrong and was very green at Punchestown,” he said, speaking to The Irish Field yesterday.

“She was a step slow away at the start and when Leigh (Roche) asked her back up on the bridle, she latched on but then got a bump and it set her alight. From there she ran keen for four or five furlongs and that is a very difficult thing to sustain and then finish off your race so I think it was impressive that she won.

“When you watch it back, the penny only dropped 100 yards from home. She did really well to win and the form of that race is really hot.

“Going another furlong is really what she wants and a small field like that will suit her, it will help her a lot. I’d be very hopeful that she’ll run a big race.”

Aidan O’Brien’s Be Happy was trading as favourite for the race yesterday evening. She won her maiden at Cork in taking style and should step forward now. This however, looks very competitive, with not one of the eight runners prices above 9/1.