Juvenile Watch: Five horses to follow on the Flat in 2025

The William Hill Futurity Trophy on Saturday draws the domestic juvenile season to a close (although I do believe it would sit better in the racing calendar if the race was added to Champions day at Ascot). 

As an end of term report, I thought I’d share my five to follow in 2025. Make sure you add each one to your Racing TV Tracker, and thanks to all the readers of Juvenile Watch this year.

Trainer: Charlie Appleby.

I am not prepared to give up on this impressive looking son of Dubawi just yet. He's second in the Godolphin pecking order behind Dewhurst winner Shadow Of Light, but I’m not convinced that it has been plain sailing with his training program this Atumn given he was weak in the market ahead of the Dewhurst. 

In the race itself, I think he showed the most natural pace in the field, and on ground that was softer than he’d encountered before, he acquitted himself well to be beaten just half a length. 

The form of his penultimate start in the Superlative Stakes reads well. Despite a disadvantageous track position, he quickened up smartly to win going away, with future Royal Lodge winner Wimbledon Hawkeye three lengths adrift in third. 

The ground could well be the key to him; on a sound surface, I’d be confident that he would reverse the Dewhurst form with his more highly-regarded stablemate. 

Trainer: Aidan O’Brien.

He's a son of Dubawi, and I think that, due to the plethora of high-class juveniles Ballydoyle have at their disposal, he’s gone somewhat under the radar. 

He’s had just the two starts - both at the Curragh - and was noticeably green on each occasion. On his first start over seven furlongs, he showed immaturity when ducking in behind runners when asked for his effort but, once organised, he finished strongly to eventually be beaten just over a length by stablemate Delacroix who had both the benefit of track position, and racecourse experience. 

Delacroix has since finished second in the Group Two KPMG Champions Juvenile Stakes (and arguably should have won) before landing the Group Three Autumn Stakes at Newmarket in smart style. 

He also looks like being the sole representative for Aidan O’Brien in the Futurity on Saturday, which could yet  boost the form further. 

A change of tactics saw Acapulco Bay make all the running when comfortably landing a maiden over a mile. However, it wasn’t all plain sailing as he came off the bridle some way from home, and required plenty of driving by Ryan Moore. 

The form of the win has worked out well with both the runner-up, Genealogy, and the third-placed Emit winning on their next starts. While it would have been nice to see Acapulco Bay travel more sweetly through the race, I’d suggest that he was simply immature and idle when in front. The flip side of that is that he will have learned plenty for the experience. 

His dam, Je Ne Regretterien, was a dual winner up to fourteen furlongs and was Group placed over that trip. Acapulco Bay certainly looks to have inherited plenty of her stamina, and I’d be surprised if he isn’t up to winning middle-distance Group races next season. 

Trainer: Ger Lyons.

I’m confident we’re yet to see the best of this daughter of Frankel who has won just once in three starts.

Remarkably, she suffered a troubled passage in two of those outings. At the Curragh first time out, she twice found herself short of racing room before catching the eye with a smart finishing effort to be beaten just a head by Lake Victoria. 

Over the same course and distance on her second start, things were far more straightforward. After leaving the stalls smartly she made the entire running to comfortably land a fillies' maiden. 

After a break of nearly two months, she made her final start in the Group One Moyglare Stud Stakes. Despite the big step up in class, she travelled beautifully, but as the tempo quickened, she found herself trapped on the rail behind horses. When the gap belatedly opened, she wasn’t able to instantly quicken but made striking progress inside the last half-furlong to finish fourth, and was beaten just over a length. 

I remain confident that Red Letter is every bit as good as Lake Victoria, and while this defeat means that, in all likelihood, my ante-post slip for the 1000 Guineas at Newmarket has been torpedoed, on account that they’ll keep her at home in Ireland, I won’t be at all surprised to see her emerge as the leading filly over a mile in 2025. She deserves better luck, if nothing else! 

Trainer: Donnacha O’Brien.

A daughter of the exceptional Justify out of dual Guineas winner Winter, she definitely has a top-class pedigree, and her debut effort when beating Ballet Slippers at the Curragh, with the pair drawing a long way clear of the field, suggests she might have the ability to match. 

She travelled nicely but, more importantly, battled generously to come out on top in a gritty dual over the final two furlongs of the seven-furlong trip, a feat that is more impressive when you consider that the runner-up had prior racecourse experience. 

Ballet Slippers comfortably won her next start in maiden company before finishing a good third in the bet365 Fillies' Mile and Newmarket on her last start. 

In his post-race interview, her trainer, Donnacha O’Brien, referenced that Falling Snow was a sizeable filly and that she would be patiently managed through her juvenile season. 

He’s been true to his word and we’ve not seen her since. However, that shouldn’t detract from her debut effort. With her pedigree suggesting that ten and maybe even twelve furlongs will be in range next season, she remains an exceptionally exciting prospect. 

Deauville Blue failed to trouble the judge on either of his two starts this season, but I’d encourage you to keep him in your Racing TV tracker. He made his debut over six furlongs in a Newbury maiden that has worked out well, with a host of future winners including Diligently, King Of Bears and Jouncy coming out of this race, while the winner, Mr Chaplin, holds an official rating of 96. 

His second start came in the valuable £300,000 Weatherbys Scientific Stakes at Doncaster where future Group One winner Camille Pissarro finished runner-up. On each occasion, he’s run a similar type of race being tardy from the stalls and lacking tactical pace for a six-furlong contest, but each time he’s shown a tremendously likeable attitude, working hard and staying on well at the finish. 

A son of the pacey Blue Point but out of a Galileo mare who’s family is full of stamina, I’d expect him to improve when stepping up to a mile, and it could well be that he starts off on a generous handicap mark.