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Michael Stoute's 3-year-old colt Golden Ball was, perhaps, slightly disappointing when beaten a neck into second place by Full Deposit at Chester last week. Connections describe the winner as 'a solid individual but no more.' So the form line does not look particularly encouraging.

Still, this was only Golden Ball's second racecourse appearance and it represented a big improvement on his initial outing at the backend of the 1993 season. Chester can be a tricky course for an inexperienced horse. He was finishing very strongly and can be expected to open his account in the near future.

Stoute had better luck at the weekend Lingfield meeting where he was responsible for the winners of both the Derby and Oaks trials. The form of both these events has proved pretty reliable in recent years. So it is worth making a note of the colt Hawker's News and the filly Munnaya - even though the former does not hold a Derby engagement and the latter is unlikely to go for the Oaks. In the short term, it seems that both will be aimed at the Royal Ascot meeting.

Guy Harwood's Chocolat de Meguro finished second to Hawker's News. And he is now quoted at 40-1 for the Derby. He may have been unsuited by the soft going at Lingfield and could yet get in the frame at Epsom. Harwood will also have been encouraged by the winning seasonal debut of Porphyrious, who ran on well to take a 7-furlong maiden event at Lingfield. He is another who is bound to go on to better things.