GRIPSHOLM CASTLE can bring the house down on day one of Newcastle’s Northumberland Plate meeting.

Henry Cecil’s representative has bags of potential and must be noted as being a significant entry in the EBF Hoppings Stakes.

The once-raced three-yearold had obviously not been showing up that well at home on the Warren Place gallops before making her debut in a Newmarket maiden.

The Dynaformer filly was sent off at 20-1, whereas her stablemate Flame Of Gibraltar was a better-fancied 6-1 chance.

Both the Cecil fillies filled the first two places – but not in the order punters expected as Gripsholm Castle came home the better.

Driven out to come home four and a half lengths clear of her stablemate, the form has since been given a massive boost as the well-related Flame Of Gibraltar ran a cracker to finish second in the Ribblesdale at Royal Ascot.

It must have been hard for Cecil to work out where to go with this filly having seen the exploits of her stablemate, but he appears to have made a safe choice by keeping her to Listed level.

She could be with no better trainer as Cecil excels with fillies and fresh from saddling his 71st Royal Ascot winner last week, we know his horses are running well.

Howard Johnson often finds a useful juvenile or two at the sales as his exploits with South Central at last year’s Royal meeting demonstrated.

He now handles his fullbrother, North Central, and he had obviously been showing plenty at home prior to his debut at Musselburgh earlier this month.

Johnson pitched him straight into a conditions event against a handful of previous winners, in which Mark Johnston’s Capercaille came out on top.

Her subsequent fourth in the Queen Mary showed what he was up against and given that North Central was not beaten too far, the Coopers Marquees Median Auction Maiden Stakes looks far more winnable.

It was hard not to be impressed by the way Richard Fahey’s Ingleby Spirit won at Haydock on his second start and he can follow up in the tradersbettingexchange.co.uk Novice Stakes.

Having been well-fancied but disappointing on his Ripon debut, he trounced his rivals on Merseyside by eight lengths and looks ready for this step up in class.