The six-million dollar questions

Can Private Secretary make the step up to Group 2 level?

At one stage John Gosden had suggested Private Secretary could make the jump from a handicap to the Derby via a Listed race at Goodwood.

That plan may have been quashed a few days later, but perhaps it showed how highly Gosden rates this son of Kingman. His sire may raise doubts about the suitability of a stiff 1m4f but he certainly wasn’t stopping when winning the Cocked Hat, a race Gosden landed with King Edward VII runner-up Khalidi in 2017.

Who are the main dangers?

Charlie Appleby won this last year with Old Persian and Jalmoud is on a similarly progressive path. Racing once as a juvenile, he returned with a commanding victory in a Newmarket novice. Appleby opted for a Longchamp Listed race next, which he narrowly won. The Derby was never on the radar, which makes him appeal as a likely candidate, while Aidan O’brien typically targets this race with a lesser light from the Derby or one who missed Epsom. Curragh Group 3 winner Constantinople rates the type who could run here.