Our racing team nominate a horse they are looking forward to following in 2026.
When you get to my age, it takes a fair bit to take your breath away in a pre-parade ring, but when Pierre Bonnard entered the one at Newmarket prior to his run in the Zetland Stakes at Newmarket in October, there were audible gasps among those leaning against the rails.
The Timeform reporter was clearly among us, noting in his write up: “he’s the most gorgeous looking colt” and clearly there’s an engine to match the bodywork.
He made light of his rivals to justify strong market support in that Group Three, floating down the Dip despite his giant frame which must be a positive for his Betfred Derby credentials.
For that’s where all roads surely lead with the son of Camelot after he added the Group One Criterium De Saint-Cloud to his haul 15 days later.
That fleetingly catapulted him to the head of the Epsom market only for Hawk Mountain to usurp him moments later by winning the Futurity at Doncaster.
That’s the stronger form at this stage but such is the physical presence Pierre Bonnard possesses, the enormous scope for improvement, you couldn’t even begin to work out how high he may soar.
Calandagan heads the LONGINES racehorse rankings and why would you not want to see the world's best returning to strut his stuff on the world stage? And the world will surely beckon for Francis-Henri Graffard's and the Aga Khan Studs' four-year-old following that historic victory in the Japan Cup last month and it will be fascinating to see how he's campaigned and how he develops.
For obvious reasons it's not all that often we get to see the top middle-distance horses go on for season after season but there's a real possibility that Calandagan will keep coming back for more as long as he remains in love with the game. He didn't prove so tractable in his younger days with Graffard describing him as a very naughty boy, a line that referred to Calandagan's youth but was still being used in the present tense following his dominant victory in the King Edward VII Stakes.
The loveable rogue trope is well worn but the names of Vodkatini, Challenger Du Luc and Harchibald still conjure vivid memories of glories and disappointments. Calandagan may not quite be in their bracket but he's not far off and there were well-vocal doubters after four consecutive second placed finishes from the backend of 2024 through to early summer 2025 and even victory in the Grand Prix de Saint Cloud and, to some extent, in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes didn't entirely quell them… but they are not so loud now following his glorious autumn.
Is the bad boy now a choir boy or does a tiny spark of rebellion remain? Part of me hopes for the latter as long as the spark doesn't ignite but Graffard and his team have proved adept at dampening the flames, allowing Calandagan's talent to burn brightly.
A late-developing Night Of Thunder horse seems to take the racing world by storm each year these days (see Highfield Princess, Economics and Ombudsman) and 2026 could be the year for Karl Burke’s Zeus Olympios.
The four-year-old has been lightly-raced in his career so far, winning all four starts, and he has clearly been a slow-burner at Spigot Lodge given the second start of his life came in the August of his three-year-old campaign at Thirsk.
That five-and-a-half length success hinted at huge promise and he went some way to delivering on that at Haydock and Newmarket on starts three and four, edging up in grade each time with increasingly mature performances.
A Group 3 Superior Mile win, where he was backed off the boards into 11/4, was followed by a most taking success in the Group 2 Joel Stakes on his final run at three at Newmarket where he won going away from another talented individual in Opera Ballo.
A strong traveller with a turn of foot, he’s earned his place in Group 1 company now and looks the ideal type for a Lockinge-Queen Anne assault in the early months of the season before he tackles the three-year-olds later on.
He could be a bit special and I can’t wait to see how his four-year-old career develops.
Sprinting at three can a tricky business – you’re often thrust in at the deep end early on in the year and there can sometimes be a temptation to take in a Classic trial, just in case there’s a bit more stamina than first meets the eye.
Well, we can safely rule out a shot at the Nell Gwyn or Fred Darling for the speedball filly Revival Power and, given how masterfully Tim Easterby trained this horse’s full-sister Winter Power in her three-year-old campaign, I’m expecting a similar sort of path to be taken.
That was already beginning to play out towards the end of last season, Revival Power attempting to follow in her sibling’s footsteps by signing off in the Cornwallis Stakes at Newmarket. Penalised for her Group 2 Flying Childers success at Doncaster, the Yorkshire raider ran a very respectable race to be beaten three lengths in fifth behind Beckford’s Folly, Brussels and Aspect Island, the latter pair franking the form by filling the same places at the Breeders’ Cup in November.
Cornwallis fourth Spicy Marg also did her bit with a subsequent Listed success in the ‘Bosra Sham’ and it just looks a hot race for the grade.
Revival Power will be much happier back on a flat track, seeing as the HQ undulations appeared to catch her out, so expect to see her back at York at just about every opportunity next year. She’s fast, and is going to be a fun filly to follow.
Speciosa was the horse who really made me fall in love with horse racing, with Pam Sly’s filly socking it to the man when winning the 1000 Guineas in 2006, and that feeling has never left me. It has probably informed my approach to racing more than I’d like to admit over the years, searching for that next equine hero who can topple reputations, price tags and SPs.
This year’s idol is coincidentally another three-year-old – whilst I write this at least – though it’s in a different code that Minella Study has shown such promise alongside accomplishment, now unbeaten in three hurdling starts having added two for Adam Nicol to the first - gained for John Nallen - over at Tipperary.
Many horses in this feature will be like a summer holiday booked in the depths of winter; a treat to look forward to, but one which seems to be forever on the horizon. That isn’t the case with Minella Study, who could be the ideal type for the Finesse back at Cheltenham in late-January.
After that, it is likely to be a return for the Festival, and I’m hopeful that will be as a leading contender for the Triumph rather than its ugly panto sister the Fred Winter. Either way, there’s shades of Katchit about Minella Study, and the rest of the 2025/26 National Hunt season will be all the better for his presence.
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