Harry Eustace Stable Tour

Harry Eustace Flat Stable Tour: Guide to his team for 2026

By Graham Clark

Horse Racing

Tue April 14, 2026 · 6h ago

Harry Eustace guides Graham Clark through some of his big hopes for the season ahead.

Last year really was one to remember for trainer Harry Eustace after celebrating a brace of Group One victories at Royal Ascot along with smashing through the £1 million barrier in domestic prizemoney for the first time.

While topping those achievements will be a tough act to follow, the Newmarket handler has, at his disposal, a team that is more than capable of helping him take the next rung up the ladder in a career which is firmly on an upward trajectory.

Both of his Royal meeting heroes Docklands, winner of the Queen Anne Stakes, and Time For Sandals, the surprise winner of the Commonwealth Cup, are back for more in search of further lucrative pots.

And 2026 has already started with a real bang for Eustace after Docklands tore his rivals apart with an impressive win in the William Hill Doncaster Mile on the opening day of the season at Town Moor last month.

With the likes of La Botte and stable stalwart Divine Comedy solid support acts behind his two Group One scorers, along with the exciting Bay Royale waiting in the wings, everything points to the 2026 campaign being every bit as successful for the Bury Road handler.

Eustace said: “Getting two Royal Ascot winners was a lot more than what we expected at the start of the year although you are always hopeful. Those wins coupled with the prizemoney at home meant it was a very strong year. All in all I thought we were competitive at the top level, which was great.

“Everyone loves having more winners, and I wish we had more winners, but it is nice that we have seen a reaction to that sort of season, which is what we wanted to see. We are lucky that we have kept both the big two and I think we have more depth with the three year olds.

“We probably lacked those progressive handicappers in that middle bracket last year so I hope we have a few more of those this year.

“We had a bunch of two-year-olds that weren’t very forward and didn’t run much at two, but off the back of the older horses doing well we have picked up a few more two-year-olds and they look like they could be more forwards, which is great.”

Harry Eustace - high hopes for 2026

Harry Eustace 2026 Stable tour

BAY ROYALE

“It was up to ten furlongs that we went at Nottingham last week, and that was always going to suit him. He was a horse that we liked last year and I always hoped he would improve from two to three.

“I thought it was an encouraging first run, and physically he was a very tall leggy baby last year so he has done quite well. It was quite a competitive race at Nottingham the other day, and a couple of the others did things a bit wrong, but he put it to bed quicker than we expected which was good to see.

“He has got an entry in the Irish Derby, but that is still a long way off just yet. I’ve still got to decide what we do next as to whether we go for another novice under a penalty or go to something like the Cocked Hat down at Goodwood to give him a chance to see if the entry in the Irish Derby is worth looking at.”

CIARRAI ABU

“He's quite an interesting horse. He came from Ireland having run well. He ran well at Brighton on his debut for us behind a horse that has won already this year on the all-weather. He went for a late holiday so he hasn’t started working yet, but he has done quite well physically, but I don’t know quite where fits in just yet. Once we start galloping we will get a firmer idea where we go.

"Hopefully he can win a restricted maiden as a three-year-old somewhere. I don’t think he is going to want the ground too quick. I think he is one that will keep quite low mileage and head down to Australia earlier than some of the others.”

DEBRIEF

“I like him. I thought he would run a bit better than he did the first time, but they got rain which definitely didn’t help him, and he probably wasn’t quite as ready for it as we thought he was at home.

“When he came off the bridle his legs were everywhere and he was a lot more babyish than we had seen at home. He could easily be like that the first time this year.

“He will start off in the grass in May in a six furlong maiden in May. He has definitely got ability. We will judge him on his second run this year, which would be his third run in total. I think he is okay as he is a good looking horse that trains with ability.”

Divine Comedy winning at Haydock

DIVINE COMEDY

“She has been a star for the yard. If there was a frustrating moment last year we had a set back with her just before Goodwood so we couldn’t run her in the staying handicap. The winner bolted up, but she would have loved to have run in it.

“It was nice to make her a winner at the end of the year at Pontefract and that race will be there for her again if need be. She ran super in the Cesarewitch and she can go in that again.

“The shame was this year that they moved the Further Flight from Nottingham to Musselburgh, and they moved it slightly earlier in the calendar. We had a small setback in February so I ran out of time to run her in that. There is nothing in April for her either in handicaps or black type races. She will start early May.

“She is in the one mile six furlong handicap at the Guineas meeting on the Rowley Mile and she might get an entry in the Sagaro Stakes, but I would probably say she will start at Newmarket.

“Depending on how she runs there is then the two mile handicap up at Haydock Park, which is an option, and I would think this year we will go for the Queen Alexandra rather than the Ascot Stakes at Royal Ascot.

“She is very adaptable, but the physical number of horses as you go further is less. At the mark she is on she can flip between handicaps and black type races.”

DOCKLANDS

“It probably worked out for the best that he went to the Listed race at Doncaster as opposed to going to Dubai as it meant we could make him a winner at the start of the year. I would have been interested if he had run in Dubai as I thought he looked good and I thought he would have placed.

“At a mile there are lots of international options for him so knowing that we knew we had Hong Kong a month after Doncaster so he heads out there on April 17th. I’m looking forward to taking him back there as he ran really well at the end of last year out there.

“If he bumps into an outstanding miler on his day he will get beat, but if it is on a day where a few don’t fire, because of his consistency he is never going to be far away, and I’d like to think he could run well. After that it will be then back to Royal Ascot for the Queen Anne again and that is Plan A for the first part of the season.

“If he wins at Ascot I think he would stay racing in Europe. If he ran well and got beat there is a race at Kentucky Downs that I would like to take him for. He is very tough as he won at Ascot just ten days after running at Epsom so he isn’t the type you have to let him down to build him back up for a big performance.

“I wouldn’t rule out giving him another crack at nine or ten furlongs. There are just a number of times in some of those mile races where you think a bit of extra distance wouldn’t hurt him so we can toy with that idea.”

A smooth Doncaster Mile win for Docklands and Jamie Spencer

FLASH KOZO

“We were keen to have a go at the sales race over at the Curragh as I thought he ran well enough first time out. I didn’t think there was any harm in doing it as there was such good prizemoney, but mentally he wasn’t ready. It was just too much for him.

“He ran okay the other day at Southwell, and he got a bit tired, but that was to be expected. He went through the race like he wanted a bit further so he will now head to a mile and a quarter handicap somewhere.

"I would like to think we could stretch him out to a mile and a half. He could end up rated eighty and I’d like to think we can win a couple of races with him. He will want a bit of juice in the ground, but that last race will have brought him on.”

EDUARDO CALDERON

“He has done okay. Mentally he didn’t take it well last year. He ran well first time out, but in fairness Chester was a tough place to send him and he lost it a bit then and then he was disappointing after that. He has come back a more mature horse mentally. He is bred to be better than he is.

"I think he would want a bit of cut in the ground, and I hope there would be a couple of handicaps in him, but I will be interested to see how he acts back at the races. He could be a horse that, if all goes right, gets to a mark of eighty. I would say we will be looking at races over seven furlongs and a mile.”

KISSKODI

“He was fantastic for us last year winning four races. He looks to have done quite well. It will be tougher for him this year, but I can’t find a race for him at the moment, which is annoying. He is going to start over six furlongs, but he has always galloped, and moved like a horse, that would stay further than six furlongs, hence why he ran, and won, over seven furlongs.

“We might go back up to seven furlongs if we need be, but he looks like he has strengthened up so it wouldn’t surprise me that now he is a year more mature he would stay six furlongs. He is rated eighty-two so he is still a way from being in the top handicaps, but hopefully we can find him a race or two to get his head in front and go from there.

“He won at Brighton and Epsom so he handles idiosyncratic tracks. I think he has improved, but he will need to of his mark.”

LA BOTTE

“I will be honest if I had my time again I wouldn’t have run in the Lincoln Trial at Wolverhampton before the Lincoln. I thought from an experience point of view he needed the race more than anything and that it would improve him for that.

“I’m not sure he turned up on the day at Doncaster, even with the way the race was run. I just didn’t think he fired and that is the only time he has let us down so far. He will either go to the Paradise Stakes at Ascot or to a Listed race in France. That will tell us more about him and what race we aim for at Royal Ascot.

“He will stay a mile and a quarter. I would say the most likely option for him is the Wolferton, and it was what race we run him in between now and then.

“I’m keen to get him out of handicap company because you need more luck in running in a big handicap. His owners have left him with us for another year and they want to find out where his level is and we can only do that at stakes level.

“My gut feeling is that the Wolferton feels the premier option for him. His next race will dictate if we go for that or the Royal Hunt Cup.”

MENZIES

“The plan is to go to the Blue Riband down at Epsom Downs with Menzies and we will find out how good he is there, but it has been the plan for a while. He goes there fit, and will stay further, so why not have a go. He won his maiden in the winter, and he has got quite a nice pedigree which suggests he will improve going up in trip.

“The fact he could win a mile maiden was encouraging. I think he bumped into a couple of nice horses under a penalty and didn’t run as well as he did at Kempton Park, for various reasons. I don’t see much downside to trying it. If you win it you get an entry into the Derby, and as an Australian based syndicate there wouldn’t be anything more exciting.

“If was competitive, but didn’t win, he would have a mark that gets him into fun handicaps at Royal Ascot like the Golden Gates or the King George V handicap. If he is not good enough he can go into lower handicaps and build his way up. He is another one that, if he stays a bit of a trip, will head to Australia at some point.”

MR UBIQUITOUS

“He won four races last season and he won the other day on his comeback this year down at Kempton Park, which was great to see. He is still only rated seventy-five at the moment. I would hope he could win another race, and I think he can, although I don’t think it was a very good race the other day.

“He needs to have improved from three to four to be as much fun as last year, but the fact he has been a winner this year is great. Last year he was quite progressive, but this year I think he is going to need a bit more racing luck I think.”

Mustazeed winning at Newbury

MUSTAZEED

“He has been a real stalwart for us. He ran the other day in the Roseberry and the main aim was to check that he wanted to do it, and it was very pleasing to see that he did. He would have needed it quite a bit, but it was just nice to see. There will always be a question mark around him and it didn’t come as a surprise that he didn’t race that day at Newbury as he has been very slow away in the past. He was drawn widest of all that day which doesn’t help as I think if he has others around him that does drag him out.

“You never question his attitude in the second half of the race as he has always been very tough, especially when he won at Newbury last year. He is another when he gets his conditions he will be threatening.

“I don’t think I can run him back quite quick as he has to be fresh and mentally happy. If we start to squeeze runs into him we have a chance of being back to square one. I would imagine we would look at going back to Newbury with him as he likes it there.”

ORACLE MISSION

“We had a little setback with him in February so he is still a few weeks off of running which puts a little bit of time pressure on it. I always think for a race like the Britannia you need the experience under your belt.

"He will run in a novice under a penalty and then you could go straight there, but I think he needs to run in a handicap as well, and he needs to as he is only rated eighty at the moment. He is quite a big horse so it might all happen a bit quick. He showed enough ability at two to run well in a maiden that worked out quite well before going on to win his maiden.”

OUTBACK HEAT

“He didn’t run at two as he was too big and backward so he stayed in work through the winter. It was a pleasant surprise that he won first time out as he is still a big baby. I was delighted with his run at Yarmouth on Saturday in what looked a competitive race as he was in and around two good horses.

“He will be better with juice in the ground and he will stay a bit further, but we will stay at a mile for now. He will also be seen to better effect when not having to make the running, which he has had to do in his last two races. I think he can be above average as the nature of our horses winning first time out is unusual, and the way he did it. He got headed, and got back up which was encouraging to see.

“He is a big horse so he will keep improving all year. I think he will be a fun handicapper for Jeff Smith. He will be campaigned relatively sparingly this year as he will improve from three to four.”

PRINCIPALITY

“He just needs his conditions. He won at Goodwood quite impressively when they had all that rain. He never really ran on ground like that again all year. I think more than anything the other day the ground at Doncaster was the main factor why he was beaten.

“He kept on improving with racing last year so again we will get him out. I think he will be a real force when the ground goes soft or heavy. There are quite a few races for a horse like at the good meetings and he needs to be in them and then the weather suddenly turns.

“I thought he was quite impressive the day he won at Goodwood and he has run well in other competitive handicaps against older horses, not in his preferred conditions. If he can get all of them together I think he can go well in one of those big handicaps.”

SEA OF KINGS

“He spent his two-year-old year in a field so he was physically, and mentally, a year behind last year, so we were delighted with how well he did last year. I can see it being a little bit frustrating getting his first win in as he is beginning to feel like one of those, but he has done physically well from three to four.

“He looks like he could make into a fun handicapper stayer, possibly a bit better than that with time, who knows. He came a long way last year. He ran at Goodwood and the Melrose so we chucked him at it a bit, but he took it pretty well.

“We would just love to make him a winner. He is very close to running and off his mark he can look at both maidens and handicaps and we can find the right one that has the right conditions and go from there.

“The Copper Horse at Royal Ascot would be the obvious race for him there, but a lot has got to happen before we think about that. He probably needs to win twice before that to have a chance of getting there, but he will be given the chance to do so.”

STARFINCH

“She is owned by her breeder. She won her maiden and slightly surprised us that day. She has always had quite a good attitude though. She won like the extra furlong would suit.

“It would be a bit unlike me to chuck them straight in a Listed race after winning a their maiden, or novice, but she had been racing through the winter and there aren’t many seven furlong Listed races so the Spring Cup at Lingfield was just an opportunity worth trying.

“I thought she ran better than her finishing position would suggest. They didn’t go that quick and she was a rank or two further back you needed to be to get involved. For her owners black type and rating is as important as winning. There is the Fred Darling, which is pretty tough, but she has an entry in it as there is not much else around.

“We will assess the quality and decide. We are keen to get her on the grass now. There will be a lot of horses in the Fred Darling that will be needing the run and if she improves to ninety five that could potentially see her nick third in the race.”

THUNDERHOOF

“He ran very well first time, but he was too green to go through a gap up a rail which might have seen him finish second. He then went over seven furlongs at Lingfield, which didn’t play to his strengths after getting a bit far back.

“He ran over a mile at Yarmouth on Saturday in what, for a restricted race, looked to have plenty of depth. He travelled through the race really smoothly and we thought going a mile on grass would help him and it showed him to better effect. We might give him a go in another restricted maiden as I think he is capable of winning one before we then go handicapping. Quite where his ceiling is I don’t know.”

Time For Sandals defies odds of 25/1 in the Commonwealth Cup

TIME FOR SANDALS

“She won her maiden first time as a two-year-old, which is unusual for us, then she ran in the Super Sprint and the Lowther, and probably lack of experience counted against her both times. There was always a Group race in her because she had run so well in several others. When you look back at the form last year it was pretty strong.

“The Commonwealth Cup has thrown lots of winners and we sent her to the King George Stakes at Goodwood as a teaching exercise. She ran great that day as she was a three-year-old filly, giving weight to everything over five furlongs at Goodwood. At Haydock Park in the Sprint Cup she got drawn the wrong side.

“We pulled up stumps early and she was meant to go to Dubai, but she didn’t, which was a shame, but she will go to the Abernant now at Newmarket. I would think we would be working towards Royal Ascot again. I’m not sure what her race would be there as a lot of Australians are coming for the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes

“I can see that being tougher than the King’s Stand Stakes so I wouldn’t rule out going back to five furlongs at Ascot. I’d imagine we would go from Newmarket into York then on to Royal Ascot. She looks to have done well and we have had a pretty clear run with her. Everything looks like she has improved from three to four.”