English King advertised his Epsom credentials after showing an impressive turn of foot to secure a taking victory in the Betsafe Derby Trial Stakes at Lingfield.
Ed Walker's charge is clear favourite with a number of firms at 6-1 for the Investec Derby on 4 July, having put his rivals to the sword in some style under Tom Marquand.
There was a charge for the early lead in the extended 11-furlong heat, with King Carney eventually allowed to take it up and he appeared to set a decent pace.
Berkshire Rocco was travelling well in behind and he made his move as he kicked for home with a couple of furlongs to run.
However, English King was just starting to motor and he swept down the outside with only the minimum of encouragement, stretching away to win by an eased-down two and three-quarter lengths.
Fellow 9-4 market leader Berkshire Rocco was in turn seven lengths clear of the third, Summeronsevenhills (25-1).
The race was won by subsequent Derby hero Anthony Van Dyck 12 months ago, and Marquand said: "Coming here today, there is always a question mark down that hill and he still clearly has signs of immaturity, so to have won that impressively and gone away in the style he did, we are all pretty excited about him.
"He is one to look forward to for the future, not just for Epsom."
Walker was delighted with the performance and is now looking forward to a Derby bid.
He said: "That was exciting and you just wouldn't quite know with him. He goes through the motions at home and is a very relaxed and a playful horse. It has been a fact-finding mission today and he couldn't have done any better.
"The exciting thing is he has a high cruising speed, he has a turn of foot and he stays and those three together are the three qualities you need in a very good horse.
"We've had some good horses, but not a Group One horse. Stormy Antarctic has bashed on the door a few times, we've had a few others place in Group Ones, but now he is as exciting as we have had.
"We were hoping, but not expecting, because we have nothing to match him at home, so it's really exciting."
On having a live chance in the premier Classic, Walker said: "The Derby is one of those races that gets me going, so it is very exciting to have a live contender, God willing - we still have a long way to go.
"Bjorn (Nielsen, owner) and I chatted about it beforehand and we both agreed that if we had a genuine Derby horse on our hands we needed to win and win very easily.
"I know the distance wasn't that far from Berkshire Rocco, but I think he did it pretty easily. He is that kind of horse, he's not a horse who will win a race by 10 lengths, that's not his style and his home work would suggest that as well. He's a cool dude.
"It's not ideal (having had just three career starts), but we're not in an ideal world right now. I definitely wouldn't cram one (another run) in, it was pretty quick ground out there too and we need to get him home and make sure he's in one piece. We'll freshen him up again for Epsom in a month's time, I think it would be reckless to try to squeeze in another one.
"I don't think he needs it, he will have learnt amount round there."
The camelot colt ENGLISH KING has absolute cruised home to take the Derby Trial! Great win for @TomMarquand and @edwalkerracing pic.twitter.com/dVn0g1NZrq
— Lingfield Park (@LingfieldPark) June 5, 2020
Miss Yoda (Evs fav) finished with a flourish to claim the Betsafe Top Price All Runners Oaks Trial Fillies' Stakes.
Trained by John Gosden and ridden by Robert Havlin, Miss Yoda was sent favourite for the extended 11-furlong event having finished runner-up in a Group Three heat on her final start last year.
However, she looked an unlikely winner at the top of the straight as front-running Golden Lips gamely pushed on again as La Dragontea threw down her challenge on the outside.
Miss Yoda was still back in fourth at the two-furlong pole, but she found plenty in the final furlong, collaring Golden Lips in the dying strides before eventually being eased slightly ahead of the line to win by a length and quarter.
Golden Lips (66-1) just hung on by a nose for second, with West End Girl (10-1) finishing with a flourish for third.
Anapurna won this race for the Gosden team 12 months ago before going on to victory at Epsom.
Gosden's other runner, Lake Lucerne, was withdrawn after getting upset in the stalls and the trainer, who was at Newmarket, felt Miss Yoda had been distracted by her stablemate at the start.
He said: "Our other one got upset in the gate and upset her, so she got left and then had to be rushed up. She had a tough time of it but she showed a lot of courage to win a race at Listed level which is great.
"We will see which way they (owners Westerberg) want to go, whether they want to look at the Ribblesdale or go to the Oaks.
"We will talk to the owner and see what they want to do, but the most important thing is we will see how she is in the morning.
"I love to get them home and see how they take the race. It was quite a hard race for her today as it was a little muddled up at the start, so it wasn't smooth, put it that way.
"I think from that point of view, we will see how she is for the next 10 days then make our decision. I like the owner to put their input in and then head in the best direction for her."
