Sporting Life
Dan Briden Two-Year-Old update

The two-year-olds who will represent HM The King & HM The Queen this season

By Dan Briden
Horse Racing
Sun February 15, 2026 · 8 min ago

Dan Briden looks at the two-year-olds who will represent HM The King & HM The Queen on the racecourse this season.

The passing of Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022 precipitated a slimming down of the royal thoroughbred operation, which was perhaps no bad thing given it had become rather bloated in recent times.

For all many of the Royal Studs’ established lines have proven successful, there is a temperamental streak that runs through its various branches.

Annual gifts of homebred yearlings from Sheikh Mohammed and His Highness the Aga Khan - often numbering around half a dozen each year - saw Her Majesty’s string reinvigorated from 2010, with notable winners from said acts of largesse being Gold Cup winner Estimate, Hardwicke Stakes and Yorkshire Cup winner Dartmouth and Dante Stakes winner/Derby third Carlton House.

Estimate wins the Gold Cup

With the majority bred to come into their own with time, it is hardly surprising so few of the two-year-olds have been allocated trainers yet. However, the class of 2026 looks, on paper at least, to be one of the more promising group of juveniles that will don the famous purple and scarlet silks.

Sadly, the Blue Point colt out of Kinematic and Camelot filly out of Desert Breeze are no longer with us, while the Cracksman/Make Fast filly and Australia/Approximate colt were sold for 42,000gns apiece at the yearling sales last autumn. There are 16 juveniles that look set to represent ‘HM The King & HM The Queen’ in 2026.

The above-mentioned Estimate has been a touch disappointing in her second career. The royal team will be hoping pairing her with Siyouni will work the oracle second time around, with their first union resulting in the fairly useful 10f 3yo winner Market Value. Their two-year-old colt has been named Rough Guess.

Golden Stream on the other hand has enjoyed continued success as a broodmare, with three of her four runners attaining black type, notably the ultimately-disappointing Solario Stakes winner Reach For The Moon. Her two-year-old is a Sea The Moon colt named Golden Reflection, meaning he is a three-parts brother to both Reach For The Moon and the Group 3/Listed-placed Chalk Stream (both by Sea The Stars).

Trainer Ralph Beckett

There is a Too Darn Hot filly at the Ralph Beckett yard called King’s Prize, who is the second foal of Listed-placed 10-10.5f 3yo winner Award Scheme, herself from one of the longest-standing families at the Royal Studs. She is the seventh generation of a family that came into royal ownership way back in 1961 when Nell Gwyn Stakes and Lingfield Oaks Trial winner Amicable was a rare sales purchase.

The aforementioned Golden Stream features in said line along with her sister, the Oaks runner-up Flight of Fancy (herself dam of two-time Winter Hill Stakes winner Fabricate) and several other black-type performers. Another descendant of the Amicable line is a Dubawi colt out of 13f 3yo Listed winner Daphne. Named Laurel Crown, he is a half-brother to 14f 3yo Listed winner Perfect Alibi.

There are three two-year-olds by Kingman. All colts, the first of them is Lancaster Tower, who is the son of Poule d’Essai des Pouliches winner Castle Lady. The dam’s first foal, Crown Estate, is a useful three-time 1m winner while the extended family includes Queen Elizabeth II Stakes and Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Raven’s Pass. Unsurprisingly, he has been placed in training with the Gosdens.

Amber Spyglass is the first foal of a winning daughter of Irish 7/7.5f 3yo Group 3 winner Yellow Rosebud, while Lord In Waiting is the second foal of 1m 2yo winner Companionship, herself the daughter of Australian 5.5f Group 1 winner Sweet Idea.

Baaeed - first crop on the racecourse

The 7f 2yo Listed winner Light Music has a colt by first-season sire Baaeed named Romantic Melody, while Light Music’s Frankel daughter Light Refrain - a 6f Group 3/Listed winner at three - has a filly by Zarak called Persian Touch. The latter is under the care of Ed Walker, who trains Light Music’s 2025 6f 2yo winner Lightning Polka. Incidentally, Light Music was moved on for 190,000gns last December.

There are a couple by Frankel among the royal two-year-old team - an unnamed colt out of aforementioned Australian 5.5f Group 1 winner Sweet Idea, who has hitherto failed to make the same sort of impact as a broodmare; and Top Scholar, a full brother to a pair of winners including the useful Warrant Holder and a half-brother to three other winners including promising once-raced 2025 7f 2yo winner Golden Orbit. The dam, Diploma, won a 10.5f Listed event as a three-year-old.

The latter is a grandson of 8/10f Listed winner Enticement, who has a two-year-old colt by Night of Thunder called Coup de Foudre. There is another Night of Thunder colt who has been named Glimpseoflightning. Dam Nathra won the Nell Gwyn Stakes and finished second in the Poule d’Essai des Pouliches, and she has produced two winners from two runners so far albeit neither proved to be more than fair. Given that Nathra was trained by John Gosden during her racing days, it is hardly a surprise that Glimpseoflightning has been sent to Clarehaven.

There is also a Lope de Vega filly out of 1m 3yo Listed winner Magnetic Charm, who has already produced the useful 7f 2yo winner Hard To Resist. She has been named La Torre and is in training with Ralph Beckett. Among the dam’s siblings is Dahlia Stakes and Duke of Cambridge Stakes winner Usherette, whose three-year-old colt Talk of New York will have entered many a notebook after a taking debut display at Kempton last October.

Desert Flyer’s two-year-old is a filly by Dubawi. The dam, a fairly useful winning-daughter of Fillies’ Mile winner White Moonstone, was sold for 90,000gns last December. The final two-year-old bred at the Royal Studs to mention is a Land Force filly out of Star Value, making her a half-sister to a handful of winners including fairly useful 2025 11.5-12f 3yo winner Golden Handshake. However, whether the latter is retained, offered at auction or even put into training remains to be seen given the sire has been singularly underwhelming and was sold on while this filly was in utero.

FULL LIST

Ralph Beckett

King’s Prize (6/2 b f Too Darn Hot - Award Scheme (Siyouni))
La Torre (9/3 ch f Lope de Vega - Magnetic Charm (Exceed And Excel))

John and Thady Gosden

Glimpseoflightning (20/1 ch c Night of Thunder - Nathra (Iffraaj))
Lancaster Tower (1/4 b c Kingman - Castle Lady (Shamardal))

Ed Walker

Persian Touch (3/3 ch f Zarak - Light Refrain (Frankel))

Yet To Be Allocated

Amber Spyglass (12/1 b c Kingman - Mellow Yellow (Dubawi))
Coup de Foudre (22/2 b c Night of Thunder - Enticement (Montjeu))
Golden Reflection (4/2 ch c Sea The Moon - Golden Stream (Sadler’s Wells))
Laurel Crown (26/4 b c Dubawi - Daphne (Duke of Marmalade))
Lord In Waiting (27/2 b c Kingman - Companionship (Galileo))
Romantic Melody (7/3 b c Baaeed - Light Music (Elusive Quality))
Rough Guess (4/5 ch c Siyouni - Estimate (Monsun))
Top Scholar (26/5 b c Frankel - Diploma (Dubawi))
Unnamed (15/3 b f Dubawi - Desert Flyer (Shamardal))
Unnamed (27/2 b f Land Force - Star Value (Danehill Dancer))
Unnamed (21/5 b c Frankel - Sweet Idea (Snitzel))

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