Zodiakos can defy his genes and strike on step up in trip

Not all racing purists were overjoyed when Hugo Palmer used a gene test to help him decide whether to send Galileo Gold to Epsom for the Derby or stay at a mile, but the trainer will surely have felt vindicated when his 2,000 Guineas winner used his tactical speed to score at Royal Ascot.

There were plenty who after the event thought the late-finishing The Gurkha was the best horse in the St James's Palace Stakes, but I wasn't one of them and will be looking forward to the rematch in the Sussex Stakes later this month.

I don't suppose Palmer bothered with a gene test to decide whether to send up in trip for a three-year-old handicap, but I'm happy enough to row in with his feeling that 1m2f will suit in the bet365 Handicap (4.45) at Newmarket this afternoon despite a pedigree which suggests otherwise.