MICHAEL JARVIS stirred up a right old hornets' nest this week when he claimed Silver Ring racegoers weren't interested in parades.

It doesn't take Sherlock Holmes to work out that Jarvis has a huge axe to grind on the subject since his stable-star, Rakti, 5-2 third favourite for Newmarket's £200,000 Queen Elizabeth 11 Stakes, is predisposed to boiling over during protracted pre-race activities.

Much as I respect Jarvis as a trainer, I think he's doing discerning punters a great disservice because most love to look at the horses in the preliminaries. Rules are rules, and if Rakti is to repeat his breathtaking 2004 victory in the Group 1 showpiece, then he must get down to the start in a calm and ordered fashion, rather than proceeding in the manner of a cat on hot bricks.

It's the tricky task of jockey Philip Robinson, who knows the classy entire well, to get the combination to the stalls without due alarms, a job in which if he does succeed, then the six-year-old must take all the beating on his return journey.

Only a fool would back Rakti to big money prior to seeing how he acts on the way to the start, and if he does misbehave badly then I'd be switching to Luca Cumani's Starcraft.

Cumani's equine giant warmed up with a magnificent all-the-way-win in a similarly strong event at Longchamp last month, a triumph that confirmed the ex-Australian-based performer as one straight out of the top drawer.

As for the current ante-post favourite, Dubawi, he showed his rivals a clean pair of heels in the Irish 2,000 Guineas but might not be up to holding court against much older and more mature opposition on this occasion.

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