Winter Watch: Five Names for the Notebook from the Last Month of Racing

[Wandering Eyes]

Winter Watch returns from a brief hiatus to recap some of the key action that you might have missed during what always feels like the longest month of the year.

In truth, if there was ever a good time for this column to take a break, then January was probably it, with several of the biggest trainers in the sport having essentially shut up shop during the first few weeks of the new year.

John and Thady Gosden, for example, followed a hugely successful December (10 winners from 24 runners) by sending out only two runners in all of January, while Charlie Appleby has continued to fill his boots at Meydan whilst more or less turning a blind eye to the domestic action – albeit with one very significant exception.

Here, we've skipped to the good bits from a seemingly never-ending January, highlighting five performances, ranked in reverse order, that you really should go back and revisit if you missed them whilst polishing off the last of the Quality Street.

5. Martagny – Cagnes-sur-Mer, January 24

Martagny, the winner of two of his three starts to date, is the first of two entries into the top five for Marseille-based trainer Jerome Reynier, with his latest victory being achieved in impressive fashion on the turf at Cagnes-sur-Mer.

After getting off the mark at the second attempt, when winning a maiden at Salon-de-Provence on November 27, Martagny then faced six other previous winners when returning from eight weeks off for the Prix Sky Lawyer. Racing in a clear second for much of that 2,150-metre contest, the son of Zarak moved up to challenge the long-time leader, Muhaaria (Muhaarar), early in the straight, before forging clear to beat the running-on Saint Martin (Time Test) by two and a half lengths.

Gerard Augustin-Normand's homebred Martagny is the second winner from three runners out of the G3 Prix des Reservoirs runner-up Montviette (Le Havre), a full-sister to the G3 Prix Messidor second Longvillers. Montviette's first foal was the high-class sprinter Monteille (Cable Bay), who can count last year's Prix du Gros-Chene and Prix du Petit Couvert among his three Group 3 victories.

Whilst Monteille has shown his best form at up to six furlongs, Martagny clearly takes more after his sire, having already proved that he stays beyond a mile-and-a-quarter. He will be well worth trying in a higher grade, with one of the early trials for the Prix du Jockey Club appealing as a suitable target.

 

Prix Sky Lawyer @hippocotdazur
Cagnes Sur Mer – Classe 1 – 3 ans – 2150m -7 Pts – Tres Souple (4.1) – 27 400 €

Martagny (m3) Antonio Orani
(Zarak?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Zarak (Fr) @AgaKhanStuds – Montviette (Fr) par Le Havre (Ire))

Jerome Reynier @EcurieReynier… pic.twitter.com/tB2Y93FThd

— French and International Horse Racing (@Vincenzo0612) January 24, 2026

 

4. Blanc De Blanc – Dundalk, January 9

We go next from Cagnes-sur-Mer to County Louth where Blanc De Blanc, a $575,000 purchase at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale, made a successful debut in a Dundalk maiden for Amo Racing and rookie trainer Robson Aguiar.

Admittedly, the performance itself wasn't as smooth as connections would have liked. Blanc De Blanc hung right when shaken up early in the straight and hampered the favourite, Astronomically (No Nay Never), to the extent that she had to survive a stewards' enquiry before eventually being declared the winner. The first two, separated by just a neck at the line, pulled a further two and a half lengths clear of the remainder.

Astronomically came into the race as a two-race maiden – and has since filled the runner-up spot again in a similar event at the same venue – so it's hard to get too excited about the form, but it was a promising debut nonetheless from Blanc De Blanc, who certainly has plenty to recommend her on pedigree. By the stateside sensation Not This Time, she is one of five winners out of the winning Galileo mare Wonderful, a full-sister to the Irish 2,000 Guineas and Breeders' Cup Turf hero Magician.

Only time will tell whether Blanc De Blanc is worthy of her own lofty entries in the Irish 1,000 Guineas and Irish Oaks. Either way, she seems sure to progress and win more races for the excellent operator that is Aguiar, who has made a fine start to his first full season as a licence holder with four winners from 11 runners in January.

 

$575k purchase finishes in front!

Blanc De Blanc (Not This Time) beats Astronomically at the line on debut @DundalkStadium but a stewards' enquiry is called pic.twitter.com/Xspu61aHcA

— Racing TV (@RacingTV) January 9, 2026

 

3. Eostre – Cagnes-sur-Mer, January 20

A few days before the success of Martagny, Reynier was also on the money at Cagnes-sur-Mer with Eostre, who looked another exciting prospect from the first crop of St Mark's Basilica when winning on debut by four and a half lengths.

Facing nine rivals over one-mile of the Cagnes all-weather track, Eostre travelled smoothly with only three ahead of her through the first half of the race. Easing into a challenging position on the home turn, she proceeded to move through the gears in the style of a filly potentially out of the very top drawer, certainly in a different league to this class of opposition as she hit the line having appeared to barely break sweat.

Eostre's Swedish owner-breeder Erika Gilliar purchased her dam, the five-race maiden Tanita (Frankel), for 105,000gns out of the Juddmonte draft at the 2020 Tattersalls December Mares Sale. Tanita, in turn, is out of Shoal (Oasis Dream), a winning full-sister to the multiple top-level heroine Midday and a half to the Group 3 winners Hot Snap (Pivotal) and Sun Maiden (Frankel). Eostre is the first foal out of Tanita, who has a two-year-old filly by Dark Angel still to come.

This filly is bred to stay beyond a mile, but the turn of foot she showed on debut suggests her connections don't need to be in any rush to step her up in distance. She's very much one to follow for Reynier, whose team of fillies to go to war with in 2026 includes Eostre's fellow Cagnes winners in January, Al Rateel (Violence) and Nay (Zelzal).

 

A potentially smart type!

St Mark's Basilica filly Eostre storms to a debut success at Cagnes-sur-Mer… pic.twitter.com/vLB8looGqF

— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) January 20, 2026

 

2. Frankish – Cagnes-sur-Mer, January 15

Not to be outdone by Reynier, Yann Barberot unleashed a potential top-notcher of his own at Cagnes-sur-Mer last month when Frankish made a successful debut in the Prix Ace Impact, a race named after its brilliant 2023 winner.

This year, Jean-Claude Rouget saddled Ace Impact's half-brother, Armano (Waldgeist), in his quest for a fourth straight win in the contest, having also struck in 2024 with Arrow Eagle (Gleneagles) – another of Ace Impact's siblings – and last year with Leffard (Le Havre). Incidentally, Arrow Eagle and Leffard both ended the latest campaign as Group 1 winners for the Rouget stable, having plundered the Prix Royal-Oak and Grand Prix de Paris, respectively.

In the event, Armano could finish only fifth under a considerate ride from Cristian Demuro, but once again the race threw up a winner who looks destined for bigger and better things. Ideally positioned throughout, slipstreaming the leader in a steadily-run affair, Frankish was ultimately well on top at the finish after moving to the lead a furlong out, striding clear from there to beat Cosmic Boy (De Treville) by two lengths.

Jockey Hugo Journiac resorted to the whip just once aboard the blue-blooded Frankish, a son of Lope De Vega and the 1,000 Guineas winner Miss France (Dansili), who is open to any amount of improvement with this experience under his belt. Sporting the familiar blue and white silks of Wertheimer et Frere, he must be considered a very smart middle-distance prospect in the making, certainly no forlorn hope to follow in the footsteps of Ace Impact, Arrow Eagle and Leffard in the months and years ahead.

 

Prix Ace Impact @hippocotdazur
Cagnes Sur Mer – Inédits – Males – 3 ans – 2000m – 13 Pts – 21 000 €

Frankish (m3) (Ire) Hugo Journiac @HugoJourniac
(Lope De Vega (Ire) @BallylinchStud – Miss France (Ire) par Dansili 'Gb))

Yann Barberot @BarberotYann… pic.twitter.com/wYHN4eH75P

— French and International Horse Racing (@Vincenzo0612) January 15, 2026

 

1. Palladas – Kempton, January 28

Godolphin's Palladas completes a clean sweep of the first two places for his sire, Lope De Vega, having been named a 'TDN Rising Star', presented by Hagyard when kicking off his career in style at Kempton last week.

Palladas was the only British runner saddled by that man Charlie Appleby in all of January, but the Moulton Paddocks boss always saves a good one for the one-mile maiden run on Wednesday's card, and so it proved once again as this colt emulated the likes of Notable Speech (2024) and Opera Ballo (2025) with a sparkling display on the Kempton all-weather. Sent off the 6/5 favourite in a field of 12, he travelled fluently into contention and was never stronger than at the finish, really motoring through the final furlong as he registered an emphatic success to the tune of two and three-quarter lengths.

A 750,000gns purchase at Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale, Palladas was bred by Jeffrey and Phoebe Hobby at Brightwalton Stud. He is one of three winners from as many runners out of the Listed River Eden Stakes third Isabella (Galileo), with the others including the GIII La Jolla Handicap winner and GII Del Mar Derby second Maltese Falcon (Caravaggio).

Both Notable Speech and Opera Ballo went from this maiden to the”European Road To The Kentucky Derby” Conditions Stakes, run over the same course and distance in late-February. If it ain't broke, don't fix it, so surely Palladas is a safe bet to appear there for the next step in his education, before being given the opportunity to test himself in Group company when the turf season gets underway.

 

2026
2025
2024
2203
2022
2021

Palladas, a 750,000gns son of Lope De Vega, continues stunning run of Charlie Appleby in this Kempton maiden.@godolphin pic.twitter.com/GCB2Je2ybz

— Racing TV (@RacingTV) January 28, 2026

The post Winter Watch: Five Names for the Notebook from the Last Month of Racing appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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