BECKHAMPTON trainer Roger Charlton has warned that 2000 Guineas gamble Top Offer will not take his chance in the Newmarket Classic if he is not ready to run in a trial beforehand.

The son of Dansili justified plenty of positive vibes when making a most impressive racecourse debut at Newbury last August, but an injury shortly afterwards brought his juvenile campaign to an abrupt end.

He has been the subject of strong support for the Guineas in recent weeks and is now a best-priced 7-1 - but Charlton believes his charge needs to improve hugely on what he has shown so far to be a realistic Classic contender.

The Greenham Stakes at Newbury on April 21 is his most likely starting point at this stage.

“He looks well and he's a very good-moving horse, so I'm not particularly concerned by the current ground,” Charlton said.

“But the whole country is very short of rain and growth of grass and so on, so the training is starting to get a bit restricted.

“We've got a lot of wonderful turf gallops and they are getting very firm, it's ridiculous this early in the year really, but his preparation has gone very well.

“I think it's worth bearing in mind that he won a maiden race and probably ran to a figure in the mid 90s.

“To deal with a Classic he's got to be closer to 120, so there's got to be massive improvement.

“It's very unfortunate he got injured last year and wasn't able to contest a conditions race. Had he won a conditions race, you'd have ended up in a Group race and he'd know more and I'd know more.

“At the moment we're still in the dark and it would be a mistake to ramp a horse up mentally and work-wise just to get him to the Greenham fitter than everything else.

“He'll come when he's ready and if he's ready for the Greenham he'll run. If he's not, we'll find something else.

“He wouldn't go straight to the Guineas. He'd need to run in a trial and he'd need to come out of the trial well, bearing in mind it is only two weeks from the Greenham to the Guineas.

“It's a big pressure, but it's a long season and I try not to mess things up by forcing things if they're not quite ready.”

l RICHARD Hannon's Dubawi Gold may have the bet365 Mile at Sandown on April 27 as an aim after being withdrawn before the start of the Dubai Duty Free.

The four-year-old picked up an injury after he had been loaded into the stalls but he has done no lasting damage.

He is due to return to England early this week and the Group Two event Hannon has won for the last four years with Major Cadeaux, Paco Boy (twice) and Dick Turpin is a logical option.

“Dubawi Gold kicked the back of the stalls and caught his hind legs, and he suffered superficial cuts so it would not have been fair on the horse to run,” said Richard Hannon jnr.

“He deserves a change of luck, and, while he will have a quiet week when he returns, if he is ok we might have a look at the Sandown Mile at the end of the month.

“Dubawi Gold has finished second in two Guineas, so we would like to win a Group One with him this year, but Sandown would be an ideal confidence-booster and get us back on the right road and it has proved a lucky race for us.

“The horse thrived in the sunshine of Dubai and was actually pleasing me a lot more the closer we got to the race, but we got a bit of a kick in the teeth when we drew the 16 stall and then Lady Luck dealt us another blow in the gates, so it all became a non-event,” Hannon said.

“But we got a bit of a kick in the teeth when we drew the 16 stall and then Lady Luck dealt us another blow in the gates, so it all became a non-event.”