Unbeaten Vandeek 'has grown, strengthened and is showing all the right signs' for Haydock return

Ed Crisford believes unbeaten stable star Vandeek should take all the beating when he makes his eagerly anticipated reappearance at Haydock on Saturday, the first stop in an exciting campaign geared around the Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot next month.

The three-year-old is expected to be sent off an odds-on favourite for the Group 2 Betfred Supports Jack Berry House Sandy Lane Stakes (2.25) following an unbeaten juvenile campaign, which began when he justified favouritism in a Nottingham maiden under Andrea Atzeni.

He followed up in the Richmond Stakes at Goodwood in August before taking a big step forward at Deauville, where he beat Ramatuelle by a neck in the Group 1 Prix Morny. He added his second Group 1 on his final start last year in the Middle Park Stakes in September.