Andrew Balding sees no reason not to treat Elm Park as an Investec Derby contender after his stroll to victory in the Racing Post Trophy at Doncaster on Saturday.
A winner of four of his five starts at two, he is now as low as 10-1 in a place for the premier Classic at Epsom.
The win meant an awful lot to the Balding family given he is from the same bloodlines as the great Mill Reef, who was trained at Kingsclere by Balding's father Ian to win the 1971 Derby. and is a son of Phoenix Reach who won several international races for the trainer.
Balding himself is currently in Australia after saddling Side Glance to finish fourth in the Cox Plate, and was registering his first domestic Group One success since landing the Oaks with Casual Look in 2003.
"I'm delighted, obviously, we always thought an awful lot of him," Balding told At The Races.
"He'd looked good in his previous races and it was nice to see him go and do it at the top level. He's certainly something to look forward to.
"Any horse that wins that race (Racing Post Trophy) is automatically considered a Derby prospect and I see no reason not to treat him as such.
"It's been a long time since our last Group One so it's nice to win another."
