2021 Classic previews: Dark horses

A fortnight ago, the curtain came down on the Cheltenham Festival with the British National Hunt scene left licking its wounds following the drubbing they received from the Irish during the one sided battle which lasted four days.

If the recent market movers in the ante-post lists for the Classics this spring are anything to go by, then it looks like being more of the same on the Flat, too. The Ballydoyle pair of Santa Barbara and Battleground have been supported almost to the exclusion of anything else in the 1000 and 2000 Guineas respectively.

It's time now though for the British to fight back and there is no shortage of ammunition in Newmarket for the season ahead. John and Thady have started the campaign like a house on fire with Mishriff and Lord North scooping big prizes overseas, while Haqeeqy made a mockery of his mark of 100 in the Lincoln. Team Gosden is blessed with five Group 1 winners amongst its squad of older horses this year and there is no shortage of talent in the three year old ranks at Clarehaven Stables either.

MONSOON MOON is a beautifully bred daughter of Kingman who holds an entry in the 1000 Guineas. Third on her debut at Ascot behind the unbeaten Love Is You, she confirmed that promise with an easy success in a mile novice stakes at her local track on the Rowley Mile in September – the stable won the same event with subsequent Oaks and King George winner Taghrooda seven years earlier.

Reported to have done well during the winter, it will be interesting to see how far she stays this year and whether the Juddmonte owned filly is given an entry in the Epsom Oaks (she is entered in the French equivalent). Her dam was a three times winner over a mile, but she has already produced a St Leger winner, namely Logician, plus another fourteen furlongs winner in Collide. Entered in the Fillies’ Mile last year, she has a lot more to offer and looks a stakes performer in the making and it would be no surprise to see her make an impact in a Classic this season.

Two Gosden-trained colts by Sea The Stars to watch out for include UNCLE BRYN, who will hopefully make more than a ripple in the Cazoo Derby market when he reappears later this month. Unbeaten in two starts on the all-weather, he was a facile winner by three lengths on his racecourse bow at Kempton at the beginning of September.

Off the track for 84 days, he reportedly grew a lot in the interim before blowing away six rivals by upwards of four and a quarter lengths at Wolverhampton in late November. Making all, the form has received a boost subsequently with the third Dancing King winning his next two outings and is currently rated 87. His half-sister Boomer won the Group 3 Prestige Stakes as a juvenile but didn’t train on as a three year old - that appears highly unlikely to occur to her younger sibling.

Uncle Bryn is expected to reappear in either the Blue Riband Trial at Epsom (20th April) – a race the stable have won six times since 2007 including with Cracksman (2017) - or the Classic Trial at Sandown three days later, in which they will be seeking their tenth victory.

It requires a huge leap of faith to think the once-raced POLLING DAY could develop into a Derby contender, but he is an intriguing prospect nevertheless.

Entered this week in the Dante Stakes at York, in addition to the Epsom showpiece (Gosden’s only unraced entry when published in February), the Godolphin owned colt only has one all-weather win to his name but his success at Lingfield had style attached to it. On the same afternoon that Jack Kennedy was steering Minella Indo to Cheltenham Gold Cup glory, Robert Havlin was pushing this son of Sea The Stars to a two and three quarters of a length win at the Surrey track.

Strong in the market beforehand, he led over a furlong from home before readily pulling clear of a couple of fellow debutants – the third has won since. An expensive yearling (625,000gns), he is out of a Group 2 winner and it is not beyond the realms of possibility he could tread a similar path to former stablemate Wings of Desire. That son of Pivotal didn’t make his debut until the 13th April and two starts later he won the Dante Stakes before finishing fourth at Epsom five years ago.

Further along Bury Road, Roger Varian isn’t lacking in firepower either. ROYAL CHAMPION didn’t acquire his name by accident and is viewed as a high-class three year old in the making.

The well bred son of Dubawi is entered in the 2000 Guineas, Dante, Epsom Derby and Prix du Jockey Club. He won the same one mile maiden at HQ in September which features Telescope (2012), Eminent (2016) and Ghaiyyath (2017) on its roll of honour. Despite being slowly away and still looking green, Andrea Atzeni’s mount was firmly on top at the finish and the third, fifth and sixth have all shed their maiden tags subsequently.

Out of a Lancashire Oaks winner and a half-brother to Outbox, who won over twelve furlongs at Doncaster last weekend, he is bred to stay middle distances, but his trainer is of the opinion he may possess too much speed to be a mile and a half horse. He could be back in action on the Rowley Mile next week with the Feilden Stakes or Craven Stakes being options.

The two fillies who dominated the Get Your Ladbrokes Daily Odds Boost Maiden Fillies’ Stakes at Newcastle on Friday 30th October last year could also have a say in the 2021 Classics. The winner SEA EMPRESS looked a smart filly when making a winning start to her career at Gosforth Park. Overcoming a sluggish start, she quickened up in the manner of a good un before stretching on to win by a length.

A full-sister to a nine furlongs winner, the daughter of Sea The Stars ought to stay at least ten furlongs this year and looks more of an Oaks filly than a Guineas one. William Haggas is of the opinion she is his best hope of Classic success this summer.

TEONA chased her home that evening and in turn pulled a long way clear of the remainder. By the same sire, she was sent off favourite and it came as a surprise to connections when she found one too good. With a clearer run, she would have finished closer, but made amends in no uncertain manner less than three weeks later.

Returning to the same track but stepping up to a mile and a quarter, the half-sister to Group 2 winner Al Hilalee destroyed her seven opponents by upwards of nine lengths (runner-up won since). English King won the same corresponding race twelve months earlier. Roger also trained her dam Ambivalent to win the Group 1 Pretty Polly Stakes at the Curragh in 2013 before winning the Group 2 Middleton Stakes at York the following season. She wouldn’t be the first top-class filly to have plied her trade as a juvenile on the all-weather in the North East during the winter. Teona also looks Oaks material.

Mark Howard’s Ahead On The Flat is due to be published later this month. There are stable interviews with Andrew Balding, Ralph Beckett, Roger Charlton, George Boughey, Clive Cox, Tim Easterby, William Haggas, James Tate and Roger Varian. Please go to www.mhpublications.co.uk to purchase a copy.