English Classics: Top 5 Juveniles to Look out for Next Season
Now that the 2014 turf season has finished, it is a good time to look ahead to which juveniles could make their mark in the English Classics in 2015. As ever, Aidan O’Brien holds a strong hand—and the likes of Found, Gleneagles and John F Kennedy are all expected to be in the mix.
Picking out five horses to look out for next spring is always a difficult task, especially when the Guineas meeting at Newmarket is six months away.
However, looking at a combination of form, breeding and the horse’s connections, there are five horses who offer excitement to get through the cold winter months.
Honourable Mentions
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There were certainly more than five juveniles to impress in 2014, and among those to miss out was Elm Park.
The Andrew Balding-trained colt was an impressive winner of the Racing Post Trophy at Doncaster in October. It was a fourth win in five starts for Elm Park, who improved with each run. He is a son of Phoenix Reach, who won Group One races in three different countries over 12 furlongs, and will be aimed at the Epsom Derby.
Roger Varian won the 2013 Racing Post Trophy with Kingston Hill, who went on to land the St Leger this year. However, a filly could help Varian to enjoy success at the highest level in 2015. Cursory Glance won at Royal Ascot and took the Group One Moyglare Stud Stakes at the Curragh. She is a contender for the 1000 Guineas.
Estidhkaar caught the eye when winning Group Two races over seven furlongs at Newmarket and Doncaster before only finishing fourth in the Dewhurst. A small hairline fracture of the hock was attributed to his slightly disappointing final run, but he remains an interesting prospect for next season.
Aidan O’Brien has one of his strongest groups of prospects for some time, and Ol’ Man River is unbeaten in two starts. He impressed in winning the Beresford Stakes at the end of September and has the potential to develop into a leading Derby contender.
5. Faydhan
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A once-raced son of War Front, Faydhan is an intriguing prospect for the 2000 Guineas in May.
His racecourse debut at Haydock in July immediately saw him talked of as a possible Guineas horse. That day, he showed inexperience before pulling away from the field to win his six-furlong maiden by six lengths.
In second that day was Dutch Connection, who went on to win the Group Three Acomb Stakes at York before finishing a two-and-a-half-length second to Gleneagles in a Group One at the Curragh.
A leg injury has prevented Faydhan from running since his debut and further advertising his Classic credentials.
His trainer John Gosden has yet to win the 2000 Guineas, but he was responsible for this past season’s leading horse Kingman.
The three-year-old colt won four consecutive Group Ones over a mile and was named the Cartier Horse of the Year.
Kingman was second in the 2000 Guineas, but Faydhan has the scope and potential to go one better in 2015 to give Gosden his first success in the race.
4. Hootenanny
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The Wesley Ward-trained Hootenanny will certainly be one of the most interesting runners in the 2000 Guineas.
The American colt has already enjoyed success in England when winning the Windsor Castle Stakes over five furlongs at Royal Ascot in June.
He then finished second in the Prix Morny over six furlongs at Deauville before stepping up to a mile at the Breeders’ Cup.
The ever-popular Frankie Dettori was booked to ride in the Juvenile Turf, and the Italian jockey delivered on the big occasion.
Dettori brought Hootenanny with a well-timed run that dispelled doubts over the horse’s ability to see out a mile. However, in contrast to the tight bends around Santa Anita, Newmarket’s straight Rowley Mile course will be a stiffer test.
Owned by the Coolmore operation, Hootenanny will be targeted for the 2000 Guineas, according to Ward.
He told the Press Association after the Breeders’ Cup win: "I spoke to the Coolmore boys...and we're going to go for the Guineas in Newmarket, and I think I'll run him first in the Transylvania Stakes at Keeneland, which I think is on the first Friday in April.
"Then we'll take him to Newmarket and see what we can do,” he added.
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3. Found
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A beautifully-bred filly, Found has the potential to go for a Classic double in 2015. Her dam, Red Evie, was a dual Group One winner over a mile, and her sire, Galileo, won both the Epsom and Irish Derbies.
Found already has a Group One win to her name after winning the Prix Marcel Boussac at Longchamp. She showed a fine turn of foot to win the race on just her third start.
On her debut, Found beat her better-fancied stablemate Together Forever, who also ended the season as a Group One winner after taking the Fillies’ Mile at Newmarket.
In between her two wins, Found finished third behind Cursory Glance and Lucida in the Moyglare Stud Stakes at the Curragh. She was beaten by less than a length, with the seven-furlong trip probably on the short side. However, it says a lot for how highly rated she is that she was pitched into Group One company on only her second run.
The 1000 Guineas at Newmarket looks the obvious target for Found come May, before a possible tilt at the Epsom Oaks in June.
Her trainer Aidan O’Brien, quoted in The Guardian, is hopeful that Found will be able to see out the mile-and-a-half of the Oaks.
He said, “She loves going the mile and she’s a filly that we will look forward to next year. She’s by Galileo, so you’d imagine she’d have no problem getting a mile and a quarter or further.”
2. Gleneagles
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Another Classic contender from the powerful Aidan O’Brien stable is Gleneagles.
Also sired by Galileo, and out of a Group Two-winning juvenile in You’resothrilling, Gleneagles won four of his six starts as a juvenile.
He has raced exclusively at seven furlongs to date and, after being beaten into fourth on his debut, claimed a maiden at the Curragh. That was followed by a Group Three win at Leopardstown and a Group Two success at the Curragh.
Gleneagles took the step up to Group One level in his stride with victory in the National Stakes in September before his controversial demotion in the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere at Longchamp. A telling burst of pace took Gleneagles to the front, but he drifted right in the closing stages. The interference he caused saw Gleneagles demoted to third and Full Mast declared the winner.
However, it did not stop Gleneagles from being named the top two-year-old colt at the Cartier Horse of the Year awards.
He is now likely to be prepared for the 2000 Guineas, when he will be bidding to give O’Brien a seventh win in the race.
O’Brien told the Irish Independent, "He has plenty of speed and is probably a Guineas horse.”
1. John F Kennedy
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The horse to most look out for in 2015 is John F Kennedy.
An impeccably bred colt, John F Kennedy has won two of his three starts and has Epsom Derby contender stamped all over him.
His sire, Galileo, gave O’Brien his first Derby win in 2001, while his dam, Rumplestiltskin, won two Group Ones as a juvenile.
The Derby trip should also hold no fear for John F Kennedy, as he is a full brother to Tapestry. The O’Brien filly won this year’s Yorkshire Oaks over 12 furlongs.
John F Kennedy’s final run as a juvenile brought success in the Group Three Juvenile Turf at Leopardstown over a mile. It was the same race that this year’s Derby hero Australia won as a two-year-old.
John F Kennedy displayed an impressive change of gear to win last time, and O’Brien has been delighted with the horse’s progress.
Quoted in the Belfast Telegraph after John F Kennedy’s Leopardstown win, O’Brien said, "You'd have to be delighted with that. He learned a lot from the first day and from the second day to today. ... He has plenty of pace. ... He came on lovely from the last day and he'll still grow up more. He's very exciting.”
It will be a major surprise if John F Kennedy does not develop into a three-year-old capable of providing O’Brien with a fourth successive Derby win.
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