Varian looking forward to season ahead After hitting the ground running following his winter move last year, trainer Roger Varian hopes it will be a case of more of the same in 2018. What could have easily been a season of transition was anything but for the Newmarket handler, with a positive start to life at Carlburg Stables boosted with two Group One prizes abroad along with setting a new personal best tally of 109 domestic winners With both his top-level scores from last season, Ajman Princess and Nezwaah, moving to the breeding sheds, hopes are high Defoe can leave his St Leger disappointment behind him and resume his progression by establishing himself as a genuine Group One horse. Varian said: "Defoe had a very good year and is certainly one we are looking forward to. I think he is a little bit stronger and is in great form. "He flopped in the St Leger, but he was not quite right after the race. We still hold every hope he could emerge as a Group One contender this year. "We would have to be thinking of looking at 10-furlong and mile-and-a-half races. He can race beyond a mile and a half, as he was an impressive winner of the Geoffrey Freer. "He could possibly start in the John Porter at Newbury, failing that he could start over 10 furlongs in the Gordon Richards Stakes." Plenty is expected of Zabeel Prince after his impressive return to action in a Listed contest at Doncaster. Varian said: "I was pleased with Zabeel Prince at Doncaster and he will improve massively for the run. I think he was fit enough, but only to the level where I thought there would be a good chunk of improvement to come. "I personally think the Bet365 Mile at Sandown might come too soon and I'm not going to rush him. I would happily go straight to the Lockinge as he goes well fresh. I think he can have a very good year. In Group Three scorer Altyn Orda and new stable recruit Narella, Varian could have two fillies capable of out-performing their double-figure odds in the Qipco 1000 Guineas at Newmarket. He said: "It was a great way for Altyn Orda to break her maiden in the Group Three and I think the form is solid. "When she was second on her second start, the winner (Bye Bye Baby) won a Listed race in Ireland a few days later, so there was plenty of substance to her form. "She could line up in something like the Nell Gwyn, with something like the 1000 Guineas in mind. "Narella came to me after the Marcel Boussac. She had a long journey from Germany to France for that race and I don't think that was her running in the Marcel Boussac. I think she is better than that. "She has done well through the winter. She is not the biggest, but she is a real athlete. She could run in a Guineas trial. "She ought to stay beyond a mile, but she won her Group Three over seven and probably warrants looking at the mile races initially."
