Nero's Return (3.10) is fully primed to come back with a bang in the £30,000 Listed Easter Stakes at Kempton, writes Colin Woods.

Mark Johnston's unbeaten colt made an immediate impact on the two-year-old stage when winning by ten lengths on his debut at York in October.

It was a stunning introduction and some doubters actually had the nerve to cast aspersions on the value of the form.

Admittedly there was a faint chance that it was a freak result, but all such theories were dispelled when Nero's Return took a monster hike in class and still managed to win at Listed level on his only other outing at Doncaster's Racing Post Trophy meeting.

While both victories were achieved over a sprint trip, Nero's Return has clearly been crying out for today's extra couple of furlongs, a distance over which he can combine his pleasing blend of both speed and stamina.

With Johnston's Lucky Story already out of the early Classic race picture due to intermittent lameness, and one of his other main hopes, Pearl Of Love, not exactly enjoying a trouble-free preparation for the 2,000 Guineas, it has not been an easy couple of weeks for Mark.

"I slightly regret not putting Nero's Return in the 2,000 Guineas. He's in the Italian and German versions and I would like to think I might have underestimated him," said the the Master of Kingsley House.

As Johnston's statement infers, Nero's Return has been catching the eye on the Middleham gallops. It would therefore seem folly to leave him out of calculations for the first recognised Classic trial of the Flat campaign.

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