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At Ascot on Saturday John Dunlop's Derby-winner Erhaab will be aiming to salvage his reputation by following up defeat in the Eclipse with a victory in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes. As previously noted, the decision to run him in the 10 furlong Eclipse Stakes always looked rather odd. He should be much better suited by Saturday's mile and a half trip. And his Sandown failure at least guarantees that he will be starting at a reasonably attractive price. The opposition is headed by the French-trained Apple Tree who won Epsom's Coronation Stakes - a race which invariably produces a sound form guide. Behind Apple Tree at Epsom was White Muzzle. At the insistence of his owners, White Muzzle's regular pilot John Reid has been replaced by Japanese champion jockey Yutaka Take and his lack of experience in this country may well count against him. A better each way proposition appears to be the consistent Environment Friend. Hopefully, however, Erhaab will restore some credibility to the current 3-year-old generation.

At the end of last month, Brief Glimpse earned a favourable note after a spectacular debut success at Kempton. She duly followed up at Newbury last weekend when collecting more than œ100,000 for the Weatherbys Super Sprint Trophy over five furlongs. She was again very heavily backed and is bound to score again. Further victories are equally guaranteed for the second-placed Femme Savante, who is trained by Richard Hannon. She looked set to win some hundred yards from the post but was just pipped on the line. The gap between the two was so narrow that they must earn an equal rating.