Preview and tip for the big race: William Hill Futurity Trophy

We’ve got the pace guide, contact views and key video replays for the Group One William Hill Futurity Trophy Stakes at Doncaster.

WIMBLEDON HAWKEYE looks to be even better and could be the first since Elm Park in 2014 to do the Royal Lodge/Futurity double. Aidan O’Brien has an outstanding record here (11 wins), making him the youngest winner of the Autumn Stakes Delacroix represents an obvious danger. Anno Domini And Hold onto were very impressive in winning both starts in the Novice category and are intriguing contenders in what looks to be a really strong renewal.

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Wimbledon Hawkeye – Three pound lead

Timeform Pace Guide

Pace prediction: Strong

Draw bias: N/A

Specific tempo note: Those off the pace are in the winning majority on this trip here and a strong race, as can be expected, will boost WIMBLEDON HAWKEYE’s chances more than normal here at the likely hands of ROYAL PLAYWRIGHT.

Individual price information: ANNO DOMINI exchanged at least double his initial Betfair SP last time out.

What the connections say

Charlie Appleby feels Anno Domini is worthy of a step up to the highest level as he looks to give the Godolphin leader two successive wins in Saturday’s William Hill Futurity Trophy Stakes at Doncaster.

The trainer has put together a top team of youngsters this season and having recently won both Group 1 games for two-year-olds at Newmarket with Desert Flower and Shadow Of Light, the unbeaten Anno Domini is now taking his own credentials to the highest level Proving your level Stadtmoor. Appleby saddled Ancient Wisdom to take the prize 12 months ago and his latest contender heads to South Yorkshire with a perfect record, having won on his debut at Newbury before a third at Sandown in July Windlord, who belonged to the Beresford Stakes, played along without any problems.

“He’s two from two and he’s a fast horse who won well on debut and backed it up with a comfortable performance at Sandown,” Appleby said. “I think he would appreciate slower conditions as long as it’s not heavy because he’s a horse that I’m pushing on the ride and has had a short break. It’s always a race where you have to do well in the conditions, but his homework was good and we go there with a bit of confidence behind us.

“He beat some nice horses at Sandown and like I said, he’s a quick horse who had those two runs and everything happened pretty quickly so he deserved the break and he did very well physically.”

No one can match Aidan O’Brien’s record in this particular competition, with the likes of High Chaparral (2001), St. Nicholas Abbey (2009), Camelot (2012) and most recently Auguste Rodin (2022) on the roll of honour.

The Ballydoyle champion is now aiming for a record 12th victory against Autumn Stakes winner Delacroix, who proved too strong for Stanhope Gardens at the end of the recent Newmarket Group Three.

One of the likely favorites is James Owens Wimbledon Hawkeyewho separated O’Brien’s The Lion in Winter and Appleby’s Ruling Court in the Acomb at York before turning up an ace at the Royal Lodge. The son of Kameko was a length and a half ahead of Andrew Balding’s again-opposing Royal Playwright on this occasion and has the chance to give his trainer a first Group 1 Rules success if he follows in his father’s footsteps, who won this in 2019 won.

Owen said: “I’m excited and nervous at the same time and it’s a massive race for us. It’s nice to have a runner in a Group One in our first season, especially a home-bred Gredley. He looks to be a hugely exciting horse with a bright future and we were delighted not only with him at Royal Lodge, but also with him throughout the season and with his progress.

“He’s training great and we couldn’t be happier with him at home. It’s tucked in the middle and the ground looks like it could be on the better side of soft – I can’t imagine it will be worse than soft – and we did well on soft ground at Newmarket. We’re keeping our fingers crossed for a big run and if he can perform like he did in Newmarket then hopefully he’ll have a good chance.”

John Gosden has not yet won this race, and now that he is training alongside his son Thady, he will launch a two-pronged attack to correct that statistic. Wootton Bassett colt Hold onto Owner Juddmonte cost €340,000 as a foal and now has the chance to confirm the promise of his opening performances at Kempton at the highest level.

“He did nothing wrong in his two novices and was impressive,” said Barry Mahon, European racing director for owner Juddmonte.

“It looks like a stark renewal of the future with a deep field. James Owen’s horse and Aidan O’Brien’s horse both looked good when they won at Newmarket and I thought Andrew Balding’s horse was a big prize as he finished behind Wimbledon Hawkeye on the final day.

“It’s a challenging race but we are happy with Detain and look forward to seeing what he can do at this level. I think his future is probably still ahead of him, he’s a big horse and physically he’s been a bit weak over the year.

“John and Thady have been progressing him slowly, so they decided to go with the second rookie instead of jumping into the squad and I just think the way he won on the last day encouraged us to do that “To give Group One a try.”

Detain is joined by a stablemate Nebras – a half-brother to the recently retired Nashwa and a winner on debut at Newmarket.

Like Nashwa, the son of Dubawi is ridden by Hollie Doyle, jockey for owner Imad Al Sagar. He said: “It’s exciting, he’s got so much ability, but obviously this is a big step up into the Group One organization.”

“It won’t be easy to win but it will be very interesting because I think he has a strong engine. It’s just a matter of whether he can perform at this level after just one run at this stage of his career. He takes on horses with more experience, but I think he has so much ability and is definitely one to look forward to next year.”

Doyle’s excitement is shared by the owner’s racing director, Teddy Grimthorpe, who added: “Importantly, Imad is very excited about his prospects, not just this year but next year too, and he could be a lovely horse.”

“Given his pedigree, it would be a big help if he could get a Group 1 black type at two years old or a Group 1 black type at any time. We think he can handle the soft. Rain is forecast and it doesn’t take much to make it difficult at this time of year, but it is to be expected at this time of year. The main thing is to approach it positively.”

Jessica Harrington’s Beresford Stakes winner Hotazhell is another player who has arrived from Ireland, while Billy Loughnane takes on Paul and Oliver Cole’s willing Newmarket scorer seaplane.

Loughnane said: “He was good when he won his freshman year and is moving up in class but we’ll see how we do.”

“He was very impressive last time and needs to improve given the tough competition, but hopefully he can do it.”

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