Juvenile Watch: Five to follow as three-year-olds

Trained by John and Thady Gosden, he’s accumulated a fair amount of experience in a truncated season; running four times and gaining two wins. He made his debut at Newbury in a maiden that has worked out particularly well; the winner Humidity landed the Chesham at Royal Ascot and has placed at Group level since, while Group performers Cape Orator, Words Of Truth and Do Or Do Not were amongst the beaten horses.

Morris Dancer made no mistake on his second start when upped to seven furlongs at Haydock shaping like a colt with potential.

His next run confirmed this promise when, in the Group Two Vintage Stakes at Goodwood, he flew home from an uncompromising position to be beaten just a short-head by future Group One winner Zavateri.

His season finished with a rout of just two rivals in the Listed Stonehenge Stakes at Salisbury, powering clear in the closing stages. Small field form can often be hard to assess, but this form looks solid with runner-up A Bit Of Spirit winning a Group Three on his next outing.

A strong well-made individual, Morris Dancer has already achieved more than his excellent sire managed as a two-year old, while his dam didn’t make the track until her third year, and even then for just one start. 

He has the pace for a mile, but will come into his own when racing over ten furlongs and maybe even further.

I’m confident that Charlie Appleby’s charge didn’t accurately portray his true level of ability on his final start in the Dewhurst, though he still ran with credit to finish third. 

He’d run poorly in the Acomb at York when racing far too freely when ridden prominently, but then improved when, under more patient tactics, he travelled powerfully before quickening up smartly to win the Tattersalls Stakes, a Group Three over the same course and distance as the Dewhurst.

When watching the Dewhurst live my initial thought was how beautifully relaxed he was through the early stages, though, in retrospect, I wonder whether this was a shade of flatness off just a two-week turnaround.

Certainly trainer Charlie Appleby’s post race comment suggested that running in the Dewhurst was somewhat of an after thought as he said: "after Distant Storm was beaten in the Acomb by today’s winner, we thought we’d give him one more run and put him away, and then when he won the Group Three here last time as he did we were drawn into the Dewhurst.”

I tipped him up after the Dewhurst when I felt the market had overreacted to his performance by pushing him out to 20-1 for the 2000 Guineas. Nothing I have seen since has made me questioning this decision and at a current best price of 16-1, I still think he represents each-way value.

It’s always exciting when a smaller stable unearths a potentially high-class horse. It’s then even more exciting when, despite huge interest, they are able to keep the horse in their yard. 

That’s certainly the case for Epsom trainer Jim Boyle who has undoubtedly unearthed a Group horse in Into The Sky.

He was in a different league to his rivals on debut over an extended six furlongs for his debut at Newbury, breaking alertly and racing with real exuberance before surprisingly, given his strong early effort, lengthening clear under Kieran Shoemark. 

For his final start of the season, he returned to Newbury for the Group Two Mill Reef. In the preceding week, Jim Boyle had expressed concern if the ground were to ride soft, given his horse has such a long low stride and, sadly for him, the rain did arrive. While the official going was only good to soft, it certainly looked to be riding slower than that.

Briefly, it looked like the slow ground was going to be no barrier as, having again raced freely, he shot clear of the field at the furlong pole before his early exertions on this slower ground told and he weakened and hung drastically to his left in the final half-furlong, with jockey Pat Cosgrave disappointingly slow to correct this deviation off course.

A giant horse, he must surely improve next year with a winter to strengthen up. I’d have reservations over his stamina for a mile and would much prefer to see him sprinting over six furlongs where his strong early pace and long stride could be used to better effect.

Karl Burke has enjoyed a bumper season with his juveniles and has a host of exciting prospects for next season.

Among his colts, it is this son of Night Of Thunder that excites me the most. He was flagged up in this column as having ‘Star Potential’ after making a winning debut over seven furlongs at York. 

It was therefore disappointing to see him beaten on his next start, albeit by a nose in a head bobbing finish in the Listed Flying Scotsman at Doncaster. He looked immature in the final furlong and, having got the better of the eventual third Sir Albert, he maybe had no time to respond to winner Avicenna.

He finished his season with a career-best when upped to a mile for the Group Three Autumn Stakes at Newmarket, battling well in the closing stages to win drawing away.

I’m not convinced he was entirely at home on the Rowley Mile as he changed leads and hung to his left in the closing stages, and equally, I’m confident he doesn’t have the raw pace to be a Guineas horse, but when upped to ten furlongs, I’m confident he can make the step up to Group Two level or better.

This Ralph Beckett-trained, Wathnan-owned filly has achieved significantly less than the other four on this list, but I do feel she’s open to any amount of improvement next season.

Physically, she was the clear paddock pick before her debut at Newbury with a good size frame, though like most juvenile debutants from the Beckett yard, she didn’t look hard-trained for her racecourse introduction. She showed signs of immaturity when slowly away, but other than that, made an exemplary debut, making ground easily around the outside of the field before finding plenty of reserves inside the closing stages.

That debut win came over a mile on soft ground and, certainly on pedigree, stamina is going to be her forte. Her half brother Mr Hollywood won a German Group Three on heavy ground over ten furlongs and was placed in a Group One over twelve furlongs.

Ralph Beckett is an excellent trainer of middle-distance fillies and I’m sure she’ll be aimed at an Oaks trial in the spring. To coin the old adage “she could be anything."