RESULTS at Chantilly in France last Sunday should have been much more to the liking of time and sectional enthusiasts, with both Muthmir and New Bay successful having been flagged up on these pages after their previous races.

Muthmir got home in front by a pixel in the Prix du Gros-Chene but had to wait to get a run and can still leave this form behind.

He needs to find a length or two to win an average King’s Stand Stakes, and the indications are that that is not beyond him.

New Bay ran in similar style in the Prix du Jockey Club to when beaten in Longchamp’s Poule d’Essai des Poulains with the crucial difference that the pace was truer this time and his late run meant he won rather than was an unlucky second.

The overall time looks good, too, and New Bay’s provisional figure of 121 indicates that he should remain a major player in good middle-distance races this season.

The Aidan O’Brien-trained runner-up Highland Reel (116 rating) is unlikely to bump into one as good as New Bay if he has his sights lowered slightly.