Coordinated Cut will have to be every bit as good as his connections believes if he is to win the Racing Post Trophy on Saturday. Inexperience remains a big issue for the son of Montjeu, for whom softer ground would also be an unknown.

With the ground at Doncaster now good-to-soft in most places, Coordinated Cut's trainer, Peter Chapple-Hyam, admitted to being “quite worried” by any further deterioration. “It was a bit too fast for him when he won his maiden,” he said, “but at the same time he wouldn't want it too easy.”

Coordinated Cut's sole outing saw him outgallop eight opponents under Kieren Fallon to earn himself a rise in class. On that occasion the Montjeu colt took time to assert himself, and those he beat have hardly advertised the form. He bids to give Fallon his first domestic group one winner since the jockey returned to action seven weeks ago. And Chapple-Hyam's faith in the horse's long-term prospects remains intact.

Chapple-Hyam's ground concerns have yet to be confirmed on the Newmarket gallops, since Coordinated Cut has only ever worked on fast ground. However, he said: “The horse doesn't have the action of a soft-ground horse to me. Against that, he is by the same sire as [the trainer's 2006 Racing Post Trophy winner] Authorized, who always liked a bit of cut himself. I should think he'll be fine - I'm just praying it doesn't rain too much.”

By contrast Morana, Chapple-Hyam's second runner, will not be troubled by an easy surface. “He will actually like it,” the trainer said. “Coordinated Cut is slightly better on what we see at home, but I'm not knocking Morana. He is honest, while we've yet to see what Coordinated Cut will do when he's asked a question - which he will certainly be on Saturday.”

Coordinated Cut's inexperience has prompted Chapple-Hyam to gallop him on his own at Newmarket. “I've been trying to work on his greenness,” the trainer said. “He's had to think a little for himself; it's been too easy for him just following his lead horse. He can quicken but he's basically a galloper, so we have been giving him shorter workouts to sharpen him up.”

Nevertheless, Chapple-Hyam believes the best will not be seen of the colt until he tackles 12 furlongs next season. “I must be going mad, because this looks like a very hot race,” he said. “St Nicholas Abbey and Elusive Pimpernel will be hard to beat, but against that, we've got to test him some time. I should think that whatever wins will be the champion two-year-old.”

Another possible runner in the group one test on Saturday is Dancing David, from the stable of Brian Meehan. The son of Danehill Dancer convincingly beat 15 opponents at Newbury earlier this month to vindicate his trainer's high opinion.

“I've always thought he was a good one,” Meehan said of a colt that was due to gallop at Manton early this morning. “If he does something special we might well run, but it's in the back of my mind that he's a big horse who will only be better with time. If he doesn't run on Saturday it's unlikely he'll run again this season.”