Is he a future top-level winning sprinter? His trainer Aidan O’Brien trained U S Navy Flag and Ten Sovereigns to win a Middle Park and both of those horses won a July Cup at three.
Or is he a flash in the pan juvenile? Is he a Johannesburg, an awesome two-year-old but a busted flush at three, or even a Blackbeard, a horse who didn’t even get the chance to race beyond his Middle Park victory?
Maybe O’Brien will enlighten us afterwards, maybe he won’t. You sense, with this being his seventh start of the campaign, his team are making hay while the sun shines and it sounds like the plan involves the Breeders’ Cup, as well.
But, for now, Whistlejacket, on the back of a gutsy win in the Prix Morny, aims for a second Group One and if he is to be denied then one of his opposition is going to have to have improved fairly significantly.
If he’s victorious, an eighth Middle Park awaits for O’Brien, and if that’s the case Whistlejacket is a quality two-year-old at the very least.
Can Ger Lyons break a UK lean spell with Babouche?
Whistlejacket’s Prix Morny victory paid a handsome compliment to Ger Lyons’ Babouche who had beaten him eight days earlier in the Group One Keeneland Phoenix Stakes at the Curragh.
She beat him with a certain amount of ease, too, travelling powerfully and maintaining a lead of over a length throughout the final furlong to the line. There was plenty to like.
On the back of that she’ll be favourite for the G1 Juddmonte Cheveley Park Stakes at Newmarket on Saturday and she looks more a natural at six furlongs at this stage than her main market rival, Lake Victoria, who has done all her running over seven furlongs.
If Babouche is to win she’ll be breaking a UK cold streak for Lyons who is 0/23 with his runners on these shores since Mustajeer’s win in the Sky Bet Ebor at York in the August of 2019.
Eleven of them went off at 9/2 or shorter, too, including a few A-listers, but that matters not a jot to Babouche who could be the best of the lot.
Could there be a middle-distance superstar for next year in the Royal Lodge?
The pedigree of this contest and the pedigrees on show suggest there probably is and at this stage, it’s a case of take your pick.
It doesn’t take a great detective to work out Luther is a smashing prospect, a son of Frankel who’s related to Fame And Glory on his dam’s side.
He chased home Woodbine winner New Century at Salisbury and then landed Listed honours himself over a mile, so this looks the natural next step for him.
Aidan O’Brien has 10 entries at the five-day stage but two sons of Dubawi catch the eye.
Acapulco Bay is the first one, a Curragh maiden winner over a mile who is very much bred for 1m4f given his dam is a sister to a Ribblesdale winner in Magic Wand and a half sister to Irish Oaks winner Chiquita.
Delacroix chased home Acapulco Bay at the Curragh and he’s supremely well-bred himself, again by Dubawi, but out of the top-class race mare Tepin who won six Group Ones including a Breeders’ Cup Mile and a Queen Anne Stakes.
And of the three sons of Justify who could run it’s Ralph Beckett’s Angelo Buonarroti who is the most interesting.
Not declared for the Tattersalls Stakes at Newmarket on Thursday, he could line up here on the back of his Convivial Maiden Stakes win at York’s Ebor Festival last time out.
Like most in this race he’s bred for further next year, but he looks a big horse that has the speed to make a big impact at a higher level at two judging by his York win over seven furlongs.
Is Liberty Lane the group horse in the Cambridgeshire?
We can’t ignore the bet365 Cambridgeshire in a piece titled ‘what could we learn at the Cambridgeshire meeting’ even if we need days to look through the field for the big handicap.
The gamble has been the Gosdens’ Roi De France after it became clear he’d get in the race and he’s lightly-raced enough to be filed in the ‘could be anything’ marked drawer.
But when it comes to proven class what about the top horse, Liberty Lane, with trainer Karl Burke looking to snaffle another big handicap pot a week on from his remarkable 1-2-3 in the Ayr Gold Cup.
The only time this horse has contested a Group race was when he was down the field in the 2023 Dante Stakes at York, but he has improved for being gelded at four and you wouldn’t rule him out of running at such a level again.
And a dry end to the week looks in his favour. Indeed, if you isolate his runs without cut in the ground this year he’s won a handicap over the Cambridgeshire course and distance from a mark of 101 in May and was second by a neck over 10 furlongs in a handicap at Doncaster’s St Leger Festival from a perch of 105, his mark on Saturday.
That run on Town Moor leaves him 3lb well-in and while it will be tough to give weight to everything in this field there looks to be plenty in his favour this weekend.
On Friday there are three Group races and two Listed races so lots of quality on show including in the Group 2 Al Basti Equiworld, Dubai Joel Stakes.
Plenty to ponder here, including if Prague will revert to more prominent tactics at a course that suits such a style of running after his unlucky defeat at Haydock (watch the free video replay below) last time out.
On the same card Harry Charlton’s Time Lock will bid to go back-to-back in the Group 3 Princess Royal Al Basti Equiworld, Dubai Stakes after not hitting the same heights in four starts since her win in the race 12 months ago.
And in the Group 2 Al Basti Equiworld, Dubai Rockfel Stakes can Sir Michael Stoute prove that he’s found a nice two-year-old in his final season in the training ranks when Formal bids to maintain her unbeaten record?
Thursday’s card is quieter but there are a few points of interest – can Harbour Wind defy a penalty for Dermot Weld in the Listed Jockey Club Rose Bowl Stakes over two miles after finishing second in the Prix Gladiateur at Longchamp last time out?
And which St Leger Festival runner-up will come to the fore in the Tattersalls Stakes when Aidan O’Brien’s Monumental takes on Charlie Appleby’s Symbol Of Honour in the seven-furlong Group 3?
That Dylan Cunha’s Prague is capable of striking at Group 2 level in the Joel Stakes.
I was on him last time when he was frustratingly unlucky at Haydock although there’s no doubt a stronger gallop will play to this horse’s strengths over a mile trip.
There are horses that could tow him nicely into the race, perhaps Highland Avenue for one, maybe Phantom Flight, but I do wonder if Danny Tudhope would be better off cutting out the imponderables by reverting to front-running tactics.
Either way, he’s a nice, progressive horse who looks capable in this grade and I suspect he’ll be underestimated again against the horses from bigger yards.
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