I still have confidence in my Derby pick - but not because of recent form boost

Last week I mentioned that Charlie Appleby's Flying Honours should be considered a Derby prospect for next year, a theory which was given a boost of sorts when Stormbuster, the horse he beat easily at Salisbury, hacked up in the Haynes, Hanson & Clark at Newbury last week.

I say of sorts because we often take form too literally and I don't think the Newbury race turned out to be a very good one. Yes, both the second and third had won decent maidens and Highbank in particular had looked really good on his debut, but neither he nor Classic looked happy last week and I'm not sure the form is quite as strong as it looked.

Not for one minute does that dent my enthusiasm for Flying Honours, who is bred to easily stay a mile and a half, but using one bit of form to back up others is not a strategy I've had any success with.