3 minute read

Sangarius is in line to take part in what looks like being an exceptional renewal of the Group 1 Darley Dewhurst Stakes at Newmarket’s Rowley Mile Racecourse on Saturday 13th October.

The son of Kingman, who took his record to a perfect two-from-two with victory in the Listed Flying Scotsman Stakes at Doncaster last week, was one of 48 colts and fillies to stand their ground at Tuesday’s scratching stage for this seven furlong contest.

Alongside the Group 1 bet365 Fillies’ Mile, which is run over the full Rowley Mile on Friday 12th October, the Darley Dewhurst provides one of the highlights of the Dubai Future Champions Festival. Both races are worth £500,000, making them Europe’s richest Group 1 two-year-old events.

Advertise, winner of both the Group 2 Arqana July Stakes at Newmarket’s July Course and the Group 1 Phoenix Stakes at The Curragh, has long had the Darley Dewhurst as his end of season target.

Quorto, conqueror of Anthony Van Dyck in the Group 1 National Stakes at The Curragh last Sunday, has also been confirmed as a likely Darley Dewhurst starter while Too Darn Hot, fresh from his length and three-quarter defeat of Phoenix Of Spain in Saturday’s Group 2 Champagne Stakes at Doncaster, is another potential Darley Dewhurst contender.

Now Teddy Grimthorpe, racing manager to Prince Khalid Abdullah’s Juddmonte Farms operation, has thrown Sangarius’s hat into the ring for the Newmarket showpiece.

Eight years ago Grimthorpe chose the Dewhurst as a destination for another Flying Scotsman Stakes-winning colt, Frankel, and that didn’t turn out too badly, as Frankel used a comfortable Dewhurst win as a springboard to an unbeaten 14-race career which saw him twice crowned World Champion.

The 23-strong bet365 Fillies’ Mile entry includes the unbeaten Group 3 Prestige Stakes winner, Antonia de Vega, and the Aidan O’Brien-trained Fairyland, successful in the Group 2 Lowther Stakes at York on her latest start.

Teddy Grimthorpe, racing manager to Prince Khalid Abdullah, owner-breeder of Sangarius, said:

“Sangarius has come out of his Doncaster victory fine and the Darley Dewhurst is the race that we are looking at his likely next start – though it might not be a great year to be pointing one towards the Dewhurst as it looks like being an extremely strong renewal!”

“He is a fine, scopey horse but is still a work in progress. He needs to improve upon what he achieved in the Flying Scotsman to be competitive in the Dewhurst but we do feel that he deserves to take his chance.”

“He has won on both ‘good to firm’ and ‘good to soft’ ground and, although it is hard to tell, there is nothing in either side of his pedigree to suggest that he won’t handle even softer ground.”

“He is from the first crop of Kingman, who has performed above expectations in his first season as a stallion, even though those expectations were quite high. His progeny have been showing a good deal of potential and I couldn’t be more pleased with how he has begun his second career.”

“His first Group winner was of course Calyx, who has been out injured since he won the Coventry Stakes, but the good news is that Calyx is on the way back, he is no lost cause, and I’m hopeful of his prospects for next season.”

“Nevertheless, his injury was a real blow, and even the emergence of Sangarius has not really softened it.”

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