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By Wandering Eyes · Posted
Winter Watch will have its time between now and the return of the Flat for real next March, but first let us bask in a snapshot of summer, celebrating our diamonds in the rough who graduated from all-weather unknowns to titans of the turf in the space of 12 months. Last winter's action might not have given us another Classic winner, à la Notable Speech, but once again the flourishing all-weather programme lived up to its reputation as a breeding ground for black-type performers of the future. At the very top end, three of the 16 highest-rated three-year-olds in Europe, according to Timeform ratings, debuted on the all-weather shortly after the turn of the year. Whilst some had their rise to stardom predicted in our first Winter Watch run, others exceeded all expectations, including the would-be Group 1 contender that is Zeus Olympios. With a Timeform rating of 123p, Zeus Olympios ended the latest season ranked behind only Daryz (131), Delacroix (129), Field Of Gold (127) and Minnie Hauk (127) among the best three-year-olds that Europe had to offer. The son of champion-sire elect Night Of Thunder was last seen maintaining his unbeaten record with a fourth career victory in the G2 Joel Stakes at Newmarket, beating 'TDN Rising Star' and fellow all-weather graduate Opera Ballo by over two lengths. Zeus Olympios and the now-122-rated Opera Ballo both debuted at Kempton, seven days apart, in January this year. Karl Burke's Zeus Olympios was first off the mark when winning a 7f maiden at very short odds, producing a performance which “didn't exactly set the world alight”, according to this clearly underwhelmed reporter at the time. However, from that one-length defeat of a six-race maiden to Group 2 glory at Newmarket, Zeus Olympios improved in leaps and bounds throughout his three-year-old campaign, with the G3 Superior Mile at Haydock also featuring among his big-race wins. Most excitingly, he remains with untapped potential when he returns in 2026 and is likely to be a leading contender in top-level races such as the Lockinge and the Queen Anne, along with the aforementioned Field Of Gold and all-weather poster boy Notable Speech, who stays in training as a five-year-old after ending last season with victory in the GI Breeders' Cup Mile. As for Opera Ballo, he followed the same route as Notable Speech early last year, registering back-to-back wins at Kempton by a cumulative margin of 12 and a half lengths. Unlike that stablemate, however, the son of Ghaiyyath then fluffed his lines when first stepped up to the big leagues, finishing a weary sixth in the G3 Craven Stakes at Newmarket after taking a keen hold. With that any Classic ambitions went up in smoke, but he quickly got back on track with impressive Listed victories in the Heron Stakes at Sandown and Sir Henry Cecil Stakes at Newmarket, before signing off with his vain pursuit of Zeus Olympios in the Joel. The enthusiastic Opera Ballo remains very much a work in progress, from the same mould as his sire who, lest we forget, didn't reach his peak until his five-year-old campaign. He surely has his best days ahead of him, too, and a productive winter in Dubai is likely to be on the cards if Charlie Appleby opts to go down that route. Joining Zeus Olympios and Opera Ballo among the trio of highly-rated all-weather graduates is St Leger second Rahiebb (Frankel), who first announced himself as a horse to follow when making a successful debut at Newcastle back in March. Though failing to add to his tally in six subsequent starts in 2025, he ran another big race when finishing a close-up third in the G3 Queen's Vase at Royal Ascot, before taking his form to a new level altogether when pushing Scandinavia all the way in Britain's final Classic. He ended the year with a Timeform rating of 120 and should be a fixture in the big 'Cup' races in 2026. Five Out Of Ten Ain't Bad Now, time to take some accountability. Regrettably, Zeus Olympios and Rahiebb both slipped through the net when Winter Watch last went to print in March with a shortlist titled 10 All-Weather Winners with Top-Class Potential. So too did the French Group 1 winners Sahlan (Wootton Bassett) and Woodshauna (Wooded), both of whom shed their maiden tags on the Deauville all-weather around this time last year. That pair went on to play their part as 2025 saw Francis-Henri Graffard equal the record tally of top-level victories for a French trainer (13), with Woodshauna registering a narrow defeat of Maranoa Charlie in the Prix Jean Prat and Sahlan holding off the fast-finishing Rosallion to win the Prix du Moulin de Longchamp. Opera Ballo, meanwhile, was left out of consideration for our top 10, having already earned 'TDN Rising Star' status, likewise another first-crop three-year-old by Ghaiyyath in Graffard's Mandanaba. She went on to win the G3 Prix Vanteaux, as well as finishing third behind stablemate Zarigana in the Poule d'Essai des Pouliches. Thankfully, the post-mortem need not go on any longer, not when so many of those shortlisted did go on to show a high level of form in 2025. Damysus (Frankel) and Leffard (Le Havre) are just two such examples, with their Timeform ratings of 118p and 118+, respectively, putting them in the mix with the very best of their age group in Europe. The last-named colt deserves top billing as the winner of the G1 Grand Prix de Paris, having kicked off his career in January by winning the same newcomers' race at Cagnes-Sur-Mer in which his trainer, Jean-Claude Rouget, also introduced the unbeaten Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner Ace Impact in 2023. Whilst Leffard was unable to emulate Ace Impact's Arc heroics when last seen finishing eighth behind Daryz in Europe's richest race, he could yet have more to offer if kept in training as a four-year-old. Similar comments apply to Damysus, the Southwell debut winner who earned a tilt at the Derby after filling the runner-up spot in the G2 Dante Stakes at York. Following a mid-season break, he then confirmed himself a high-class prospect when bringing the curtain down on his 2025 campaign with successive wins in a Listed contest at Deauville and the G3 Darley Stakes at Newmarket. All told, five of the 10 shortlisted won a black-type race, with Damysus and Leffard being joined by Noble Champion (Lope De Vega), a wide-margin winner of the G3 Jersey Stakes at Royal Ascot, as well as the Listed scorers Kon Tiki (Night Of Thunder) and Purview (Kingman). As for the remaining five, Life Is Beautiful (Night Of Thunder) went close to making a Group-race breakthrough of her own when finishing second in the G3 Prix de Psyche at Deauville, while Juddmonte's Pinhole ended the season with a Timeform rating of 110, having defied a BHA mark of 98 when winning an Ascot handicap by five and a half lengths. The son of Frankel subsequently sold for 200,000gns at the Tattersalls Autumn Horses-in-Training Sale and is set to continue his career with Chris Waller in Australia. Potential Names For Next Year's Shortlist The hard yards start now to try and ensure that the next Zeus Olympios or Rahiebb is given due recognition in this column which, after all, is designed to shine a light on the exciting prospects that the winter all-weather programme continues to produce on an increasingly regular basis. It will be full steam ahead in the long weeks and months to follow but, to get the ball rolling, here are a few interesting names for the notebook if you haven't been paying close attention over the past fortnight or so. Nation's Hope, a Ghaiyyath half-brother to the multiple top-level winner Nations Pride (Teofilo), is the obvious place to start, having earned 'TDN Rising Star' status when winning a 1m maiden at Kempton on November 3. Debut performances simply don't come much better than his five-length demolition, though stablemate Abashiri came close to matching it when winning by four lengths over the same course and distance two days later. The fourth foal out of Godolphin's G1 Prix Saint-Alary heroine Sobetsu (Dubawi), the daughter of Frankel looks another exciting prospect for the Appleby stable to go to war with in 2026. Not unusually, the Gosden yard has also unleashed a number of promising sorts in recent days and is currently operating at a 41% strike-rate (7/17) on the all-weather since November 1. Recent Newcastle winners Fashion People (Mehmas) and My Love Is King (Kingman) both showed plenty of promise in making successful debuts, while Brilliant Star (Cracksman) also deserves a mention following her runner-up finish at the same venue on Tuesday. The second foal out of the triple Group 1 heroine Star Catcher (Sea The Stars), Anthony Oppenheimer's homebred was green throughout and looks a banker for a similar event next time with the experience under her belt. At Lingfield, the newcomer Ray Mon Dough impressed on the clock when winning the 6f maiden run on November 4, sprinting right away in the final furlong to beat the odds-on favourite from Moulton Paddocks by five lengths. One of 19 individual winners and counting by Lope Y Fernandez, the half-brother to G2 Rockfel Stakes heroine Spain Burg (Sageburg) is arguably as promising a juvenile as we've seen from the first crop of the National Stud resident. Meanwhile, first-season sensation Starman continues to go from strength to strength and is now up to 35 individual winners in Europe, including Karl Burke's Soul Love, who proved a class apart from her seven rivals on debut when winning a 6f maiden at Southwell on November 3. Finally, Chantilly's all-weather card on November 10 is well worth revisiting, if only for the pair of Juddmonte homebreds who impressed in shedding their maiden tags at the first attempt. The André Fabre-trained Firefall (Kingman), a half-brother to the multiple Group 2-winning sire Threat, laid down a marker when beating the boys by four and a half lengths, before Francis-Henri Graffard's Gilded Prize (Frankel) recorded a quicker time in winning the fillies' equivalent by three and a half. The latter is out of the GI Flower Bowl Invitational and GI Beverly D. Stakes placegetter Grand Jete (Dansili) and will be one to follow when the Graffard stable is tasked with trying to repeat its 2025 heroics next year. The post Winter Watch: Zeus Olympios Tops the Class of 2025 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article -
By Wandering Eyes · Posted
The $175,000 Pebbles Stakes (G3T), rescheduled from Nov. 16 to Nov. 23 after this past Sunday's card at Aqueduct Racetrack was canceled early in the day due to high winds, deepened with the postponement. View the full article -
With the prospect of no racing there for at least another 18 months I expect those trainers and their owners are all happy as a sandboy. -
By Wandering Eyes · Posted
Willie Mullins, Gavin Cromwell, Henry de Bromhead, Gordon Elliott and Ger Lyons' Glenburnie Racing are among the team captains confirmed for the Treo Eile Christmas Show on Thursday, December 11 at Emerald Equestrian Centre near Enfield. Also stepping up to the plate for the HRI Treo Eile Thoroughbred Classic team event are a number of past or present jockeys, including Paul Townend, Jack Kennedy, Patrick Mullins, Jody Townend, Mark Walsh, Colin Keane, Nicola Burns, Robbie Power and Kevin Manning. The HRI Treo Eile Thoroughbred Classic, the feature class on the night, is a team competition to showcase the very best of Ireland's retrained racehorses. Teams of four will compete in a timed competition, followed by a jump-off to decide the winners of the coveted Horse Racing Ireland perpetual trophy. Racing TV's Kevin O'Ryan and Brendan McArdle of The Irish Field will act as masters of ceremonies when the Treo Eile Christmas Show gets under way at 12 noon with two classes for thoroughbreds and a pony class for junior riders. Olympian Sam Watson will host the 'Connolly's RED MILLS Training your Thoroughbred' clinic. Andrea Ryan, CEO of Treo Eile, said, “The Treo Eile Christmas Show encapsulates all the good work that is done in thoroughbred aftercare throughout the year and is a wonderful chance to celebrate Ireland's retrained racehorses. “We get huge support from both the racing and equestrian world for the show, and I would like to thank all the riders and horse owners who generously give their time, as well as the organising committee. I would also like to thank all the sponsors of the show who are always willing whenever we ask for support. This is my first time experiencing the Treo Eile Christmas Show and I truly cannot wait!” The Treo Eile Christmas Show will be streamed live on Horse & Country TV. Tickets cost €15 per person. A family ticket (two adults, two children) is available for €40 and a 10-ticket bundle is €100. Tickets can be purchased online here. The post Top Trainers and Jockeys Sign Up for Treo Eile Christmas Show appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article -
By Wandering Eyes · Posted
The word was out about the William Haggas newcomer Bayaann (Too Darn Hot) at Lingfield on Thursday and the half-brother to I Can Fly (Fastnet Rock) duly delivered with a display full of promise. Sent off the well-backed 5-4 favourite for the seven-furlong maiden on the Polytrack, Sheikh Ahmed Al Maktoum's 410,000gns Tattersalls October Book 1 purchase took a while to find his stride but as soon as they had straightened for home had begun to loom. Giving generously for Rossa Ryan to overwhelm his peers in the last half a furlong, the bay asserted for a 1 1/2-length success from Lake Como (St Mark's Basilica). “He's a big baby and he didn't know what he was doing in the false straight, but I knew I had loads and in the end he only galloped out only for half a furlong,” the winning rider said after completing a treble on the card. “Mr Haggas liked him and he has plenty of size and scope, so I'd say he'll have a good future ahead of him,” he added. Madonna Dell'Orto, whose aforementioned I Can Fly scored at Group 2 level and was multiple Group 1-placed, is also responsible for the Listed scorer and dual Group-placed Viscount Barfield (Raven's Pass) and for the dam of another smart daughter of Fastnet Rock in the GIII Long Island Stakes winner Alluring Angel. I Can Fly is in turn responsible for this year's Falmouth, Coronation Stakes, and Prix Rothschild runner-up January (Kingman), while the dam is a half to Danehill's ill-fated Poule d'Essai des Poulains and Keeneland Turf Mile hero Landseer. The winner's full-sister was a 480,000gns purchase by Willingham at last year's Tattersalls December Foal Sale, while the dam also has a colt foal by Sea The Stars. 4th-Lingfield, £9,650, Mdn, 11-20, 2yo, 7f 2y (AWT), 1:26.76, st. BAYAANN (GB) (c, 2, Too Darn Hot {GB}–Madonna Dell'Orto {GB}, by Montjeu {Ire}) Sales history: 280,000gns Wlg '23 TADEWE; 410,000gns Ylg '24 TATOCT. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $6,805. O-Sheikh Ahmed Al Maktoum; B-Genesis Green Stud Ltd; T-William Haggas. The post Haggas Hotpot Bayaann Delivers On Debut appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article
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