The Group 1 Futurity Trophy Stakes is the final Group 1 race of the year in the UK, and has seen plenty of high class winners in recent years, including:
- 2018 – Magna Grecia
- 2019 – Kameko
- 2021 – Luxembourg
- 2022 – Auguste Rodin
Last year’s winner Auguste Rodin become the sixth horse to win the Vertem Futurity and follow up in the following years’ Derby – could we see another future Derby winner on Saturday?
GG editor Tom Aldridge previews this years race, running through all eight runners, before giving his expert verdict on who he expects to win.
Last year’s renewal saw A P O’Brien’s AUGUSTE RODIN travel powerfully throughout and win comfortably, giving his master trainer a record 11th win in the race:
Runner-By-Runner Guide
1. Ancient Wisdom
(Charlie Appleby/William Buick)
The exciting Godolphin runner continues to impress with three wins in four races, and he looks set to go off a deserved favourite on Saturday. His comfortably win last time out in the Group 3 Autumn Stakes was a career best, and he seems to be getting better with each run. That was also his first race over the one mile trip and his first effort on soft ground, and he thrived on it, pulling well clear of the field, so we know he will love the conditions at Doncaster. He looks set for a big future and with the way he seems to be getting better with each run, I think we could see him head into next season with a Group 1 victory to his name as a 2YO.
2. Battle Cry
(A P O’Brien/Ben Curtis)
Battle Cry is a clear second string for A P O’Brien, and it’s diifcult to see him getting involved here. I expect him to be one of the pace setters here, but I can’t see him staying there long in all honesty. He’s only won one of his five races to date, and has over 7 lengths to find with Dancing Gemini, which looks a tough task. He’s a huge price and I can only see him beating one or two of these home.
3. Dancing Gemini
(Roger Teal/Lewis Edmunds)
Soft ground certainly seemed to help Dancing Gemini last time out, who put in a career best effort when running out an easy winner of the Flying Scotsman Stakes at Doncaster. However, the form hasn’t worked out all that well since, and he was ten lengths behind Ancient Wisdom when the pair met on good ground at Ascot back in July. I don’t think he’s improved enough to reverse that form, but with a clear liking for soft ground Roger Teal’s colt is capable of running into a place.
4. Deira Mile
(Owen Burrows/Richard Kingscote)
The ex Charlie Johnston runner isn’t fancied at all here (currently available at 125/1 at the time of writing), and I can see why, but I don’t think he should be quite so big in the betting. His sole effort over this trip on soft ground saw him finish third behind God’s Window, but he was giving that rival 3lb that day and was less than two lengths off of him. He then put in a disappointing performance when sent off a 1/5f on the all-weather at Chelmsford, but he had an excuse that day (hit rail and was reluctant thereafter), so I’d be willing to forgive that. I’m not saying he’s good enough to win the race, but I do think he’s capable of beating two of three of these and shouldn’t be as big a price as he is.
5. Devil’s Point
(David Menuisier/Oisin Murphy)
The David Menuisier colt has been a bit of a mixed bag so far in his career, with a couple of good efforts sandwiched by a couple of poorer performances. He ran out an easy winner at Ffos Las over the likes of Spaceport and Going The Distance, with the latter since winning both of his next two races to boost that form. He then did well to finish third in the Solario Stakes when slowly away, and his most recent effort wasn’t the worst performance, when finishing fourth in a Group 3 in France last month. However, he isn’t at the level of some of his rivals here and I don’t think he’ll be giving them too much to worry about on Saturday.
6. Diego Velasquez
(A P O’Brien/James Doyle)
Master Trainer A P O’Brien has won four of the last six renewals, including the last two runnings, and his chances of landing the hat-trick seem to lie solely with Diego Velazquez this year. The Frankel colt is 2/2 so far in his career, however this will be his biggest test and he’s yet to race on soft ground. He was a game winner of the Champions Juvenile Stakes at Leopardstown last time out, but this will be a much harder race for him and I think he might struggle to go with Ancient Wisdom in the final stages of the race. James Doyle has been booked for the ride and I’m usually a big fan of his, but I don’t think he’s quite at the level of Ryan Moore, and I think that could also make a difference on Saturday. He should certainly be in the top three, but I’m not convinced he’ll be winning.
7. God’s Window
(John & Thady Gosden/Kieran Shoemark)
John & Thady Gosden’s Dubawi colt made an eye-catching debut when winning comfortably over C&D last month, finishing ahead of a couple of these rivals in the process. The fact he was the only one in the first four home to come from the rear of the field just makes that effort even more impressive, and the fourth has since boosted the form by winning next time out. He was receiving 3lb from both Redhot Whisper and Deira Mile that day, but I think he’ll improve for the run and he could prove to be one of the bigger dangers to the likes of Diego Velazquez and Dancing Gemini in their quest to finish in the places.
8. Redhot Whisper
(B F Brookhouse/Stefano Cherchi)
Redhot Whisper chased home God’s Window last time out when stepped up to the mile trip for the first time, and although he meets that rival on 3lb better terms, I’m struggling to see him managing to reverse that form here. I find it strange that he’s considerably shorter in the better than Deira Mile, when that runner was only a length behind him in that Doncaster race last time out. I don’t think either of them stand much chance in this race, but at the odds I would much sooner side with Deira Mile E/W than Redhot Whisper.
Big-Race Verdict
I think this could be a fairly comfortable victory for ANCIENT WISDOM, with the ground in his favour and the lack of serious challengers in here. Diego Velazquez would be much more interesting if this were on better ground, or even if Ryan Moore was on board, but I don’t think he’ll be able to go with the Godolphin runner when William Buick really goes for it on Ancient Wisdom. Of the rest, I do think God’s Whisper could chase home the favourite, with the potential for him to improve from his impressive debut win over C&D last month, and I also wouldn’t put people off backing Deira Mile E/W if bookies are paying extra places. For win purposes though, I think this is all about Ancient Wisdom.
SELECTION: ANCIENT WISDOM (win – 13/8 generally) + GODS WINDOW (E/W – 7/1 generally)
*odds correct at time of posting – 6pm Thursday 26th October
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