Qatar Racing's good run of form continues

The new week has already brought two winners for Qatar Racing, with Act of Valour scoring in a maiden at Roscommon on Monday and the returning Naval Warfare making a successful handicap debut at Leicester at Tuesday.

The Michael O'Callaghan-trained Act of Valour had finished a close third on his reappearance and comfortably went two places better, fairly streaking clear in the closing stages. He's always been well regarded by his trainer and is a fantastic-looking colt, very much in the mould of his sire Harbour Watch.

Naval Warfare appeared to go a generous pace at the Midlands track yet still had something left for the finish. His trainer Andrew Balding expects the colt to improve for the run, and he could be another of our possibles for the Britannia Handicap at Royal Ascot.

Both Act of Valour and Naval Warfare are 3-year-old colts open to further improvement.

Hopefully in the same mould is Naval Warfare's stablemate Count Octave, who puts his Derby credentials on the line in the Gr. 3 MBNA Chester Vase Stakes at Chester on Thursday, day two of the course's May meeting.

Count Octave finished a highly encouraging third in a maiden at Goodwood on his sole start as a 2-year-old and returned with a smooth win in a similar race at Wolverhampton in March. Homebred Count Octave certainly has the pedigree of a classic contender as he's closely related to Treasure Beach, who won the Chester Vase in 2011 before just getting touched off in the Derby. Treasure Beach made no mistake in the Irish Derby next time and also gained another top-level success in the 2012 Secretariat Stakes.