Sunday 26 March 2017 12:49, UK
Eminent could take in next month's Craven Stakes at Newmarket en-route to a shot at Classic glory in the 2000 Guineas.
The son of Frankel, who made a big impression on his debut last September when he won one-mile maiden at Newmarket, is a best-priced 40/1 for the first Classic of the season on May 6.
Trainer Martyn Meade is thrilled with how his star youngster has wintered and could give him a trial run in the Craven on April 20.
Meade said: "He is absolutely fine and that (the Craven) is the plan as things stand, but we'll see what the entries are looking like nearer the time.
"If it looks like a very tough race, we might give it a miss, not because I don't think he'll be ready for it, but I don't want him to have a very hard race before the 2000 Guineas.
"We might decide to miss the Craven, give him a racecourse gallop somewhere and then go to the Guineas.
"The race he won wasn't desperately impressive, but I think the style with which he did it was and the way he's progressed since, I think he's a pretty smart horse."
It could be a big season for the Sefton Lodge-based trainer, with the progressive Aclaim also in the frame for Group One honours in the Lockinge Stakes at Newbury.
The four-year-old impressed on his first start over a mile in an Ascot handicap last September before dropping back to seven furlongs to win the Dubai Duty Free Cup at Newbury and the Group Two Challenge Stakes at Newmarket.
Meade said: "Aclaim is in very good form and working well.
"I'm very pleased with how he's wintered and I'm aiming for the Lockinge. That is the goal at the moment.
"We decided to take a pull with him last season and bring him back to a handicap. He won at Ascot and went through the gears from there as he gained confidence.
"It will be a big ask running in a Group One on his first run of the season, but I think he's a stronger horse this year and he deserves a crack at it
"I think he'd go on any ground, but he probably prefers a little bit of cut."
