Сould a new stable star in the Henry II Stakes be on the horizon?

For an emerging player in the staying tier, it seems like this year could be theirs, and Group 3 is full of them. Sweet William is another new addition to John and Thady Gosden's brood, which also includes Gold Cup steamer Gregory.

During the previous season, as a four-year-old, he showed significant growth, with his best performance coming in second place to Trueshan in the Doncaster Cup off-level weights. Now Sweet William gets 7lb from that rival and destroyed him the last time they met at Ascot on these grounds.

Sweet William's issue is that he only placed third at Ascot and trailed the runner-up, Caius Chorister, by a length and a quarter despite having a seven-and-a-half-length lead over Trueshan. It is obvious that improvements are required.

Maybe Caius Chorister was flattered to be picking up the pieces, but Sweet William seemed to pay for getting into a duel with winner Coltrane and weakened badly close to home.

Trueshan faces a challenging assignment at the weights, where his competitors are giving him as much as 7 pounds, but the rain has made things easier for him. His devoted band of admirers will undoubtedly follow him once more, but it will be shocking if he can hold off his younger rivals.

Perhaps the strongest of them will be Chesspiece, who finished only a length behind Middle Earth in the Noel Murless at Ascot in October after winning the first two races handily. That opponent also emerged victorious in the Aston Park at Newbury on Saturday.

Chesspiece will undoubtedly get better for his reappearance fifth in the John Porter at Newbury, having had an impossible task attempting to give up 3lb to that class act at Ascot.

He is undoubtedly the horse that can blow the race if he makes the first step up to two miles, which promises to offer lots more progress.