Jamie Lynch spotlights the top two-year-olds going for Group 1 glory on Town Moor on Saturday as Aidan O’Brien bids for a 13th win, live on Sky Sports Racing. If it's an important race for Aidan O'Brien - and 12 wins says it is - then it's an important race for each season and each generation, a Group 1 with a rich history of generating Classic winners. Sure enough, Ballydoyle holds the keys to the William Hill Futurity Trophy once again, three keys to be precise, in a field of just seven, but the rest are more than merely making up the numbers.
Here's an in-depth rundown of the Group 1 participants, for the feature race of Saturday, live at 1.30pm on Sky Sports Racing. Jockey: William Buick | Trainer: Charlie Appleby Misfits matter because they can be innovative and inspirational, holding within them the ability to challenge, or challenging ability in the case of Al Hudaiba, whose shimmying and swerving are all part of his routine, taken to extremes the day he unshipped Tom Marquand. And then there's the feeling of his tools and this test being a misfit, of competing forces, at least compared to the whizzing around Keeneland on fast ground for the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf, for which he earned a free berth after his Woodbine win including ingrained slalom.
I can't see it, but more meaningful is that Charlie Appleby clearly can, and he won the Futurity in 2023 with Ancient Wisdom. Lewis Edmunds | William Muir & Chris Grassick William Muir has promised us that this is a top horse, which isn't unusual for him, as we know, but the groundwork has been good, and now his sire gets to do the talking, as the ground and the galloping nature of this test means it's time for the Cracksman in him to come out. Never miss a story with all the latest racing news, interviews and features on your phone.
Find out more Ombudsman running riot last week was a reminder of just how scintillating Cracksman was in a soft-ground Champion Stakes, not once but twice, and Breacher hinted at being cut from a similar cloth with his staying-on third in the Solario, the style to add to the substance of another third in the Champagne, behind Desert Castle and the reopposing Sergei Diaghilev. Moving up to a mile may turn the boy into a man. Burning Up felt the pinch and the pressure of the second-fastest Royal Lodge since the race was relocated to Newmarket (in 2011), on ground that was more like firm than the official good to firm, but his work out of the Dip that took him from fifth to second - beaten only by Heffner - suggested the Futurity framework would amp up his power, by plugging more into his stamina, from a classy middle-distance family.
Additionally, he looked really good and moved really well when conditions were on the soft side for his latter win at Haydock. With his profile and propulsion, he's got a chance of stemming the Ballydoyle tide. The September slump was real for Aidan O'Brien, who sighted a low-level infection: his strike-rate in Ireland dropped to 14%, when more like 20% is the norm, and the run-to-form ratio likewise dipped below 60%, from a resting rate around 75%.
That in itself is some mitigation for a dull display by Giant Sequoia in the National Stakes, when the choice of Moore over Royal Lodge winner Haffner, though the Moore merry-go-round now aligns with Noble Exhibit. See the latest horse racing news, interviews and features from Sky Sports Racing Giant Sequoia had a tall reputation from day one - even from Ballydoyle not many go off at 4-9 on their debut - but the Futurity was more functional than flashy, his star perhaps dimming, though he's bred to be suited by this step up in trip, being out of an Irish Oaks runner-up. In the race to be champion trainer, O'Brien has got three high cards, whereas Andrew Balding is playing a joker, but it's hard to believe that Gran Dia can muscle in on the meaty prize money considering this is a world away from Salisbury, where he made a winning start.
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