John and Thady Gosden will be the new trainers of Nightwalker (GB) when he returns to the track in 2025, following a third-place finish in the G3 Autumn Stakes at Newmarket on his final start for Sir Michael Stoute, who is due to retire at the end of the year.
The son of Frankel (GB) opened his account at the second attempt at Yarmouth in September, before running an encouraging race when thrown into deeper waters at Newmarket, staying on gradually to pass the post around four lengths behind Saturday's G1 Futurity Trophy contender Delacroix (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}).
The homebred Nightwalker, a half-brother to the dual GI Diana Stakes winner Whitebeam (GB) (Caravaggio), is one of several smart two-year-olds assembled by Juddmonte this season, with the others including the Gosden trainees Field Of Gold (Ire) (Kingman {GB}), the winner of the G3 Solario Stakes at Sandown, and Detain (Ire) (Wootton Bassett {GB}), who features among Delacroix's seven rivals at Doncaster on Saturday.
“With Sir Michael retiring at the end of year, he has switched to John and Thady Gosden,” Juddmonte's European racing manager Barry Mahon said of the change of scenery for Nightwalker. “They are going to get a feel for him now over the winter and we'll be guided by them in the spring and how he fits into their regime. But you would like to think he is a horse who will start off in a Derby trial next year.”
He added, “It was a lovely performance at Newmarket and Oisin [Murphy, jockey] was very complimentary about him. Oisin just felt he was caught for a bit of room and the race developed ahead of him and away from him, so he just gave him an easy ride and he hit the line really strong–his last furlong was his best furlong. He's definitely a horse with a nice bit of potential for next year.”
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