The obvious choice in the £400,000 guaranteed Dubai Champion Stakes at Newmarket is Pilsudski, runnerup to Peintre Celebre in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe on his latest start.
But smart and tough though Michael Stoute's entire is, one cannot help wondering if this will be a bridge too far after a long season that began at Longchamp back in April.
Bahhare is an interesting alternative. Winter favourite for the 2,000 Guineas, John Dunlop's colt was unfortunately sidelined with a stress fracture but made an encouraging reappearance when second to Revoque at Doncaster last month.
And there was plenty to like about his subsequent close fourth to Air Express in Ascot's Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, where he sweated up and came from off the pace in a slowly run race.
Bahhare should be well suited by the step up to a mile and a quarter and is no folorn hope to belatedly capture a top prize.
With a crop of improving juveniles, the £100,000 added Thoroughbred Corporation Dewhurst Stakes looks too close to call. But French raider Xaar, impressive winner of the Group One Prix de la Salamandre at Longchamp last month, will be a tough nut to crack.
Take a chance on The Flying Phantom to slip his field and romp to glory in the £75,000-added Tote Cesarewitch. Thursday's results at Newmarket - shortest priced winner 6 to 1 - amply illustrated the dangers of weighing in with big bets at this time of year.
And the Cesarewitch, always an ultra-competitive affair, has been littered with shocks over the years.
Inchcailloch was a 20 to 1 shot last season when he edged out 50 to 1 shot En Vacances and bigger surprises include Private Audition, 50 to 1 in 1987.
Mark Tompkins trained the latter and with The Flying Phantom he has another outsider who has much better claims than his price of around 66 to 1 would suggest.
The Flying Phantom proved a very useful stayer at three and four years but has not been the easiest horse to train since.
But he showed the ability is still there when sent hurdling last winter, returning from a lengthy absence to beat Give And Take in a hot little race at Wincanton.
The grey ran respectably to finish fourth to Durham on his latest start on the Flat in August, racing over one and three-quarter miles at Yarmouth.
But he will be much happier given this stern stamina test on softish ground - he finished third in the 1995 Chester Cup - and is expected to bowl along in front.
Having plummeted down the weights, The Flying Phantom has only 7st 10lb on his back and if he finds he's enjoying himself, could well build up an unassailable lead over his tiring rivals.
Canon Can, Media Star, Top Cees and Mawared will figure heavily on many shortlists. Any one of them could win but equally, they all represent rotten value in a race where the bookmakers have the percentages firmly in their favour.
Shudder, just touched off in a Group Three race at Chantilly on his latest start, has the touch of class necessary to see off 25 rivals in Redcar's £100,000 guaranteed Comcast Teesside Two-Year-Old Trophy.
