In a year that has seen the famous Gredley colours spring back to prominence, Saturday's G1 William Hill Futurity Trophy at Doncaster hosts their exciting 2-year-old Wimbledon Hawkeye (GB) (Kameko) who bids to emulate his sire's success in this mile feature and lift the James Owen stable to the heights. Relishing the step up to this trip and an easier surface when upstaging the re-opposing Royal Playwright (GB) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) in Newmarket's G2 Royal Lodge Stakes last month, the homebred is one of an intriguing renewal's standard-setters.
“He looks a hugely exciting horse with a bright future and not only were we thrilled with him in the Royal Lodge, but thrilled with him all season and how he has progressed,” Owen said of the likely favourite, who was previously second to The Lion In Winter (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) in the G3 Acomb Stakes on fast ground over seven at York in August. ” I'm excited and nervous at the same time and it's a massive race for us.”
“He's training great and we couldn't be happier with him at home. We've got our fingers crossed for a big run and if he can put up the same performance as he did at Newmarket, then hopefully he will have a good chance.”
Also successful in one of Newmarket's autumn pattern races was Ballydoyle's TDN Rising Star Delacroix (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), who despite winning the G3 Autumn Stakes gave the impression yet again that he is a work in progress. He would make it a dozen wins for the stable in a race that fits the kind of colt in which they specialise, but two runs back he was on the receiving end of a beating from the Jessie Harrington-trained Green Impact (Ire) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) in Leopardstown's G2 Champions Juvenile Stakes and it is notable that the trainer is here with Silverton Hill's G2 Beresford Stakes and G3 Tyros Stakes winner Hotazhell (GB) (Too Darn Hot {GB}).
This is a race that has yet to feature on John Gosden's honour roll, so it is up to the two unbeaten colts in Juddmonte's Detain (Ire) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) and Imad Al Sagar's Nebras (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) to put that to rights. The former, who has won his two starts at Kempton by a cumulative margin of nine lengths, is a half-brother to the soft-ground lover Arrest (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) while the latter who earned TDN Rising Star status on debut at Newmarket earlier this month is kin to the owner's outstanding Nashwa (GB) (Frankel {GB}).
Barry Mahon, European racing manager for Juddmonte, said of the former, “I think his future probably is ahead of him, he's a big horse and physically he was a little weak during the year. It looks a cracking renewal of the Futurity with a deep field. James Owen's horse and Aidan O'Brien's horse both looked good when winning at Newmarket and I thought Andrew Balding's horse [Royal Playwright] was a big price the way he finished off behind Wimbledon Hawkeye the last day.”
Nebras's jockey Hollie Doyle said of the supplemented colt, “It's exciting, he's got so much ability but obviously this is a big step up into group 1 company. It won't be easy to win, but it will be very interesting as I think he's got a big engine. It's just whether he can apply himself at that level at this stage of his career after just one run.”
Also in the mix is Godolphin's unbeaten Anno Domini (GB) (New Bay {GB}), last seen beating Windlord (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) under a penalty at Sandown in July. That form looked better when the runner-up went on to finish just over a length behind Hotazhell in the Beresford and Charlie Appleby is making all the right noises about the relative of Alpinista (GB) (Frankel {GB}) et al.
“He's two from two and he's a breeze-up horse who won well on debut and went and backed it up with a cosy performance at Sandown,” he said. “I think he might appreciate slower conditions as long as it's not heavy, because he is a horse I'm stepping up in trip and coming off the back of a bit of a lay-off. It's always a race where you need to see it out well in conditions, but his homework has been good and we're going there with a bit of confidence behind him.”
Benevento Goes For The Horris Hill…
Saturday's other juvenile pattern races are Newbury's G3 Horris Hill Stakes and Chantilly's G3 Prix Miesque over seven furlongs, with the former featuring Amo Racing and Giselle De Aguiar's Listed Flying Scotsman Stakes winner Benevento (Ire) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) and the latter Everest Racing, Qatar Racing and Barbara Keller's Lhakpa (Ire) (Siyouni {Fr}) who was sixth in a hot renewal of the G1 Prix Marcel Boussac last time.
Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up for the daily PDF or alerts.
