TAPIS ROUGE showed plenty when runner-up on the second of his three qualifying runs over a mile at Southwell and, commensurate with his profile and the ultra-shrewd yard that he represents, improvement is very much on the cards now faced with a stiffer test in handicap company. Artavian signed off last season on a winning note at Windsor and he gets the nod for forecast purposes ahead of Pysanka, who notched his fifth win over C&D last week.