Andrew Balding harbours hopes 2000 Guineas fancy Kameko will prove he is the best he has trained in years.
A 14/1 shot for the first Classic of the delayed Flat season on June 6, the three-year-old has already bagged a Group One and connections are eyeing another.
The 2019 Vertem Futurity Trophy winner has hotshot Pinatubo to worry about at Newmarket, but connections are quietly confident a spin around Kempton has put him spot on for the much-awaited clash.
"I hope and think Kameko is the best we have had here for a good long while," Balding said yesterday.
"I think it really helped with the racecourse gallop last week and he has done three or four pieces of serious work since mid-March, albeit at staggered times.
"Only the race will tell us the answers but I think his preparation is as good as we could have had it."
Kameko rattled home by three-and-a-half lengths to scoop Britain's first race at the top level on an artificial surface back in November.
In normal circumstances he would almost certainly have had a prep run, but coronavirus wiped the first racing fixtures off the board.
Under starter's orders from next week, as long as industry leaders get the green light from government, trainers like Balding have so far had to keep their stars under lock and key.
But Kameko, by the same sire as ill-fated four-time Group One winner Roaring Lion, has had the luxury of an away day.
Balding said his work went up a gear around the time of the Cheltenham Festival- and he will bid to become the third consecutive Vertem Futurity hero to follow up on the Rowley Mile.
"I couldn't be happier with him at the moment," Balding said.
"He had a gallop at Kempton last week, Oisin (Murphy) rode him in that and I couldn't have been happier with the way he went.
"He looks magnificent. He's a lovely horse to have anything to do with and we are all very excited."
