Adonius and Kaya Fraser win at Chester

Rebecca Menzies sweet on unbeaten two-year-old Adonius

Horse Racing

Sun July 19, 2026 · 1d ago

Rebecca Menzies is working back from a possible trip to the Breeders' Cup at Keeneland with unbeaten two-year-old Adonius.

The dual-purpose trainer who is based at Howe Hills Farm just outside of Sedgefield, Stockton-on-Tees, is delighted she's been able to retained the chestnut son of Soldier's Call, who cost £32,000 at the Goffs UK Premier yearling sale last August.

Adonius followed up his five-furlong Musselburgh debut win on April 4 under a penalty in a novice event at the same venue just eight days later, since when he's made it three from three with a blistering performance from the front in the CAA Stellar Lily Agnes EBF Conditions Stakes at Chester's May Festival.

Menzies deliberately skipped Royal Ascot with her star youngster and is hoping the move pays off deep into the year, providing the horse keeps heading into the right direction.

"He's been amazing because we have had some good two-year-olds in the past, and when they've been placed in their maidens, or a couple of them have won their maidens, we've nearly always sold them," the trainer told Racing TV's Luck On Sunday show.

"The owners have often decided to cash them in. So to have a horse like him win on debut and then win again so quickly. And then win a Lily Agnes, and for him to still be in the yard, is quite remarkable. It's thank you to the existing owners not to sell him.

"They've sold half of him to some really good guys in America, Riverdee & West Paces, so hopefully he can put us on the map.

"You coast along and you look for the good horses, and this year we found him and I think there could be a couple more in the team as well that haven't yet run, because, again, we've got the right owners that have given them the patient approach, and they understand that they just need that time to develop. And if they get a couple of runs at the back end of the two-year-old season, great. If not, they're big, strapping horses for next year, and it's all about building and building.

"If he keeps progressing, that's (Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint, October 30) where we hope that he'll end up.

"I think the two-year-old races over this weekend have potentially shown that Ascot has left its mark on a number of two-year-olds, and the Prix Robert Papin today at Chantilly has just the three runners. I can't understand why there aren't more English horses going to race over there. It has been pretty hot, however, so whether that was part of their considerations, not entering that Group 2 over there today, I don't know."

Adonius currently has the only early-closing entry in Redcar's Listed William Hill Two Year Old Trophy on Saturday October 3.

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