GODOLPHIN unleash one of their latest recruits at York this afternoon when Palace Episode (2.45) sports the famous all-blue colours for the first time in public.

Purchased privately out of Kevin Ryan's stable at the end of 2005 by Sheikh Mohammed and his merry men after scooping the Racing Post Trophy, Palace Episode returns to the fray for his new connections in the £145,000 Dante Stakes.

It was a most gritty performance by the colt on the Town Moor, repelling the persistent challenge of Winged Cupid, who Mark Johnston reckoned was his best juvenile last year. He is not often wrong, so seeing as the canny Scot believed Winged Cupid was one red-hot potato, in theory it could follow Palace Episode is something really special.

Only time will tell, but Saeed Bin Suroor wouldn't be kicking off Frankie Dettori's mount at such a heady level unless the selection had been showing plenty on the gallops, both in Dubai and more recently, at Newmarket Heath.

A modest interest on Orientor (1.45) might not go amiss for the opening totesport.com Handicap, especially as Jim Goldie's dasher is re-united with Kieren Fallon.

A decent fourth at Newmarket last time out, Fallon invariably gets the best out of the eight-year-old who, when required, responds well to Fallon's trademark strong-arm tactics.

Siegfrieds Night (4.25) has the ideal credentials to land a potentially massive-priced nap in the marathon Sportsman Racing Handicap.

Very few Flat horses possess the stamina reserves to tackle the leg-buckling trip of two-and-a-half-miles, nevertheless there are always exceptions to the rule, a comment which applies to Michael Chapman's dour stayer.

Siegfrieds Night is better known as a jumper these days, a sphere in which he hardly ever runs a bad race, a point underlined by his battling third on unsuitably quick ground at Ludlow in April.

Irish sensation Emmett Stack, who has been booked to ride, is an apprentice in rapid ascendancy and the fact he's able to claim a 5lbs allowance puts the icing on the cake as far as assistance from the saddle is concerned.

John Dunlop clearly had Velvet Heights (4.55) as fit as a butcher's dog for his two-mile Kempton reappearance, the four-year-old romping to an emphatic two-and-a-half-length success under the irrepressible Kevin Darley.

Doubtless Dunlop is eyeing a possible tilt at Europe's richest handicap, the £200,000 Ebor in August.

However, before taking the plunge, Velvet Heights needs to record an equally impressive triumph in the toteexacta Handicap.

Darley and partner require every inch of the one-mile-and-six-furlong trip to show their true colours.

Therefore the pair seem likely to make an early bid for glory by setting a fierce gallop from the outset.

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