Timeform highlight some notable performances following the Future Champions Festival at Newmarket.
Darkness Falls now highest-rated two-year-old colt
There were only five runners in this year’s Dewhurst Stakes, but Darkness Falls (119p from 112p) and Desert Castle (118p from 113p) produced performances right up to standard for the race and the best from the colts this season.
There wasn’t much between them on the figures beforehand, while both dominated the betting, but it Darkness Falls was given a very positive ride from Ryan Moore dropped back to seven furlongs, and that coupled with a slight edge on experience enabled him to come out on top to give Aidan O’Brien a record ninth success in Britain’s premier two-year-old race.
That performance shot him to the top of the tree so far as this season’s two-year-old colts are concerned, rated just 1lb inferior to his stablemate Sun Goddess, and he now heads the ante-post betting for the 2000 Guineas, the Derby and the St Leger.
Talk in the immediate aftermath switched to his claims of being the first horse since Nijinsky in 1970 to complete the Triple Crown. It would be fitting if he was able to achieve that gigantic feat, given he’s a son of Camelot, who went very close to Triple Crown glory in 2012, denied only by Encke in the St Leger. Darkness Falls is a mixed bag on pedigree, but there is hope further back on the dam’s side that a mile and three quarters would be within reach next season, and it is definitely the plan from Ballydoyle.
Desert Castle may have lost his unbeaten record, but he lost little in defeat, again showing improved form, and a rematch in the Guineas next season is by no means certain to produce the same result given the perfectly judged ride Darkness Falls received; Desert Castle remains a high-class colt in the making.
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Musical Times didn’t need to improve in Fillies’ Mile
Musical Times (remains 114p) did maintain her unbeaten record for Charlie Appleby and Godolphin in the Fillies’ Mile on Friday, but she didn’t need to improve on her May Hill rout to do so.
However, she deserves extra credit for doing so, given she met trouble around two furlongs out, and didn’t appear to handle the track all that well.
That didn’t stop her from winning by a length and, in a different way, it was a performance which was every bit as impressive as at Doncaster. Classics are sure to be on her agenda next season, behind only Timeform’s top-rated two-year-old, Sun Goddess, in the ante-post betting for the 1000 Guineas.
Musical Times is out of smart mare Dubai Fountain, who finished fourth in the Fillies’ Mile, and failed to handle the track when prominent in the betting for the Oaks at Epsom in her three-year-old season, while she didn’t really progress, either. That, along with her rather leggy, narrow flame, is a slight concern as to what heights Musical Times may climb to next season.
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Discover Sporting Life Plus BenefitsDrumbeat the sort to thrive on racing next season
The progressive Drumbeat (109 from 99) stood out on form in the Zetland Stakes, one of only two in the field to have been tried at pattern level previously, and he had little trouble landing the odds, though he found further improvement for the step up to a mile and a quarter, his performance bettered by recent winners of the race only by Arabian Crown.
He has improved with each run so far this season, notably a chunk here, as expected, proving well served by the extra two furlongs. If connections would like to run again this season, the Criterium de Saint-Cloud would be a viable option, which would give him the opportunity to be a Group 1 winner as a two-year-old.
Drumbeat is just the sort who will thrive on racing as a three-year-old, a Derby trial sure to be on the agenda in the early part, and he has the potential to make up into a contender. You can still get 25/1 about his chance for the Derby itself, which does look generous given he’ll no doubt be busy from now until then; he’s a smart middle-distance colt in the making.
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Rock Montreal entitled to be aimed at 2000 Guineas
The Autumn Stakes is a race which has Delacroix and Coroebus among its winners in recent years, though whether this year’s renewal will throw up a three-year-old of similar stature remains to be seen, Rock Montreal’s performance (108p from 107p) a shade below the best runnings in the last 10 years or so.
He had been left in the Dewhurst at the five-day stage, but he shaped like a horse who was crying out for a mile in the Champagne Stakes at Doncaster on his previous start, and he saw out this longer trip as well as expected.
Rock Montreal responded well to pressure to narrowly see off his main market rival Sergei Diaghilev (107p from 104p), and a tilt at the 2000 Guineas looks the likely route for him next season.
His price tag of 1,000,000 guineas as a yearling, along with his physique (a strong, good sort) suggest he’s just the sort to improve further as a three-year-old, but he will need to if he’s to threaten the likes of Darkness Falls and Desert Castle.
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Discover Sporting Life Plus BenefitsSong of The Clouds can thrive as four-year-old
Even following the withdrawal of Oaks runner-up Legacy Link during the morning, it still looked a strong renewal of the Pride Stakes which usually attracts a double-figure field, and it was the most progressive William Haggas-trained pair Song of The Clouds (114p from 98p) and Silver Lake (114p from 106p) who fought out the finish.
The former confirmed herself a filly progressing at a rate of knots, attracting plenty of support in the betting and relishing the step up to a mile and a quarter.
What was even more impressive about her performance is that she drubbed her rivals who raced in the unfavoured far-side group, her jockey getting to the front a lot sooner than he would have probably liked, but she found plenty for pressure, and there were shades of the finish to the 2002 Guineas between Rock of Gibraltar and Hawk Wing.
This form would have been good enough to place in the previous weekend's Prix de l'Opera and she looks a Group 1 four-year-old in the making given there’s plenty about her physically, sure to thrive over middle distances next season.
Silver Lake also pulled well clear of the remainder and she’s another filly to remain very positive about, only just failing to complete a five-timer on her first try in pattern company. She also possesses bags of scope and is another to look forward to next year.
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