Charlie Appleby stable tour
Taking a decision to focus on quality rather than quantity in 2016 proved to be an inspired tactical move by Godolphin, with Charlie Appleby feeling the benefit.
While numerically his total number of British winners for the year may have been down on his 2015 figure of 151, the Newmarket handler enjoyed an increase on the number of successes achieved at Group-race level.
Out of the 70 British winners that came his way, six of those were achieved in Pattern company highlighted by the Group One success of Hawkbill in the Eclipse last July.
More glory came the way of Appleby in Europe before the season was out thanks to the victory of Wuheida in the Prix Marcel Boussac at Chantilly, a victory he hopes signifies a sign of things to come in 2017.
He said: "Numerically 2015 was our best season, but last year we changed our strategy in regards to looking more at quality rather than quantity.
"We increased our Group One winners and black-type winners in the European season. The highlight of the season was winning the Eclipse and we finished it on a high with the Marcel Boussac win.
"We felt we had a better class of horse last season. Going into 2017, the feeling is that hopefully we can build on it to get Godolphin competing on the Classic and world stages and, on the back of that, produce a few nice stallions along the way."
Appleby on five horses to follow:
"She stayed in the UK this winter and has done well. She is a filly I've always liked and has done all the right things during the winter. The plan with her is hopefully to head straight to the Guineas.
"She went and had a look around at Huntingdon the other day and did everything we asked of her. She has come out of that very well. We might take a look at taking her up to Newmarket for the Craven meeting to give her a spin on the track.
"We've always had the Oaks earmarked as we feel she will excel at that trip. I am confident we will see her very best going further than a mile."
"He was placed in both the Middle Park and Dewhurst. We tested the waters over seven in the Dewhurst and while he didn't disgrace himself, he clearly showed he was better over six.
"He has thickened out well and has strengthened up. He looks like a sprinter. He has a big backside and is thick through the shoulders.
"He went out to Dubai for the winter and has done all the right things ahead of his three-year-old career. We will work back from the Commonwealth Cup and look towards the Sandy Lane at Haydock as a starting point."
"He is a horse that has only had three runs in his life. His form is rock solid. He had some niggles in the autumn so we took him out to Dubai. We went there with the intention to run, but with Thunder Snow out there, there was no point in clashing heads with him so we have taken our time with him.
"The Guineas is something we are tip-toeing towards, but I am not forcing him on it. If he comes to hand in time, we will certainly look at it, but he is a horse with a bright future.
"If he doesn't make it to the Guineas, we will look at trying to give him a run before going for something like the St James's Palace Stakes. In time, he will go better as he goes further. He is a mile-and-a-quarter horse."
"When he gets his ground, we know what he can do. He needs cut in the ground and he will be campaigned around that. He will be entered in all those Group Ones over a mile and a quarter and a mile and a half and go where the ground is best.
"The first half of last season in those first two races, what he achieved was not a surprise. He was five out of five going into the Eclipse and he had The Gurkha to beat. It was a pleasant surprise he won, but not a surprise that he ran well.
"He is another that wintered out in Dubai and he arrived back earlier this week. We are very pleased with him and we might look at starting in the Jockey Club Stakes or maybe the Tattersalls Gold Cup in Ireland."
"He broke his maiden at Yarmouth and then went on to finish second in the Flying Scotsman at Doncaster. He was a big two-year-old and has strengthened well. What he did at two was a bonus because of his size.
"We will look towards a Guineas trial and take it from there. Obviously he has got a bit to find to be a Guineas contender. He will be entered in the French and English Guineas trials. A more conventional track might suit him, but we could test him in the Craven. "