Noble Exhibit heads to Doncaster on Saturday as the one they all have to beat in the Group 1 Futurity Trophy, the final top-level race of the British Flat season. Aidan O’Brien‘s Beresford Stakes winner is the 5/4 favourite with bet365 and 6/4 with William Hill for the 1.30pm, ahead of Karl Burke’s Burning Up and Charlie Appleby’s Al Hudaiba.
Here is everything you need to know about the Ballydoyle colt before Saturday.
His record so far
Noble Exhibit has had just three starts, and he has improved with every one of them. He made his debut in a seven-furlong maiden at the Curragh in August, finishing third, a promising enough start for a colt bred to want further.
Stepped up to a mile at Punchestown in September, he was a different proposition. Wayne Lordan sent him clear for a seven-length victory at Punchestown at 11/4. Just 11 days later, he was thrown into the Group 2 Beresford Stakes at the Curragh as the 10/11 favourite and made most of the running to beat Paddy Twomey’s City Of Dubai by a length and a quarter, with stablemates Drumbeat and Shakespeare further back. That earned him an official rating of 112 and Drumbeat has since franked the form with a wide margin victory in Newmarket’s Zetland Stakes.
He has the pedigree to go on improving, too. The son of Frankel is out of Prize Exhibit, a dual Grade 2 winner in the United States and a full-sister to Sussex Stakes winner Mohaather.
The Beresford route
Few trainers know this race like O’Brien. He has won the Futurity a record 12 times, and the Beresford has been his favourite stepping stone, with Hawk Mountain, Luxembourg, Saxon Warrior, Casamento, St Nicholas Abbey and Saratoga Springs all completing the double. Jessica Harrington’s Hotazhell did the same in 2024, so four of the last ten winners at Doncaster came straight from the Curragh.
Hawk Mountain was the last to complete the double 12 months ago, beating four rivals, including stablemates Action and Benvenuto Cellini. He gave O’Brien a 12th win in the race in the process.
What happened to previous winners
The Futurity has an outstanding record as a Classic pointer. Six of the last ten winners went on to land a Group 1 at three, and four of them won a 2,000 Guineas, with Saxon Warrior, Magna Grecia and Kameko all striking on the Rowley Mile and Mac Swiney landing the Irish equivalent. Auguste Rodin went one better still, winning the Derby, the Irish Derby, the Irish Champion Stakes and the Breeders’ Cup Turf, while Luxembourg landed the Irish Champion Stakes.
There is a note of caution, though. The two most recent Beresford-Futurity winners, Hotazhell and Hawk Mountain, both came up short at the top level the following season, and neither managed a Group 1 win at three. Then again, Hotazhell clearly trained on, often keeping the highest company and making a belated Group 1 breakthrough as a four-year-old in this year’s Irish Champion Stakes.
His chances on Saturday
O’Brien holds 11 of the 17 Futurity entries, and Noble Exhibit could face several stablemates, including Royal Lodge winner Haffner, Eyrefield Stakes winner Wall Street and Giant Sequoia. Burning Up was second to Haffner in the Royal Lodge, Al Hudaiba already has a Group 2 and a Grade 1 at Woodbine to his name, and William Muir’s Breacher was third in the Champagne Stakes behind Desert Castle.
On balance, though, Noble Exhibit is a worthy favourite. He sets the standard on 112, he has already proved himself at a mile, and he has improved markedly with each run. It is a big step up from a Group 2 at the Curragh, but if he follows the Beresford route to victory again, O’Brien may well have another Classic colt on his hands for 2027.
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