Friday’s French banker of the day is a useful two-year-old looking to record a first victory.

Must Bay (Carlos & Yann Lerner/Ronan Thomas)

Saint-Cloud – R2 – Prix Kantar (Mdn)

- Strong debut performance at Compiegne

- Will improve stepping up in trip

- Breeding looks strong on paper

As we enter the winter months, plenty of the best prospect for next season may have already run, but there's still plenty of useful types running at metropolitan tracks.

One of them that made some note was Must Bay, a two-year-old by New Bay, who placed second at Compiegne five weeks ago.

Having raced widest on the track, he began to pick up in eye-catching fashion down the centre of the course and although he ultimately proved to be no match for the winner, Montsecret, who went on to score by two-and-a-half lengths, it remained a debut effort of great promise.

The penny may have dropped a little too late on that occasion, but he shaped as though there could be plenty more to come and it was a debut performance that will have laid the foundations for a better display here.

Stepping up a further 200m could bring out further improvement and this nicely-bred son of New Bay – who is out of the Listed-winning mare Madeline Must – should be going close with that initial experience under his belt.