The mile division is wide open before the Lockinge - what are the strengths and weaknesses of the main players?
The Group 1 BOYLE Sports Lockinge Stakes (3.35) at Newbury is the big race on Saturday. Here we go through the form of the leading contenders and give a verdict on who will come out on top . . .
Damysus
Form: 2011-1
Pros: Comes here following back-to-back Group 3 victories, either side of the winter. Both of those came at Newmarket, this season's being a commanding three and three-quarter length win in the Earl of Sefton Stakes despite carrying a 3lb penalty.
There is no shortage of confidence from the Wathnan team that a step back to a mile here will suit.
"He's a complete dude of a horse and has an amazing temperament," Wathnan racing adviser Richard Brown said about the son of Frankel. "We think he's just getting faster and faster and when James Doyle got off him at Newmarket, he said he's definitely got the speed for a mile.
"We'll find out on Saturday, but I'd be pretty confident he'll be fine over a mile. He's really strengthened over the winter and we're very fortunate that it's never a rush with the horses in our operation. It certainly looks like he's come forward as a four-year-old and hopefully he'll keep progressing."
There will be no fitness concerns to consider either, that dazzling Newmarket display last month evidence that John and Thady Gosden clearly have Damysus ready for a fast start to the 2026 campaign. A win here would be a third successive Lockinge for the Gosden yard and a fourth in six years.
Cons: As ever, the flip side to an improving horse is the question of whether the next step will be one too far. In the case of Damysus it is a double jump up to a Group 1, a significant rise from his Listed and Group 3 successes.
Sponsor's odds: 5-2
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Zeus Olympios
Form: 1111-3
Pros: Enjoyed an irresistible rise from the all-weather to Group 2 glory last season, and joins the ranks of the talented four-year-olds at the head of the market for Saturday's big one. Was unbeaten until last month's bet365 Mile at Sandown, won by the front-running Opera Ballo.
The Zeus Olympios team were confident that the son of Night of Thunder would be better next time out and this year's Lockinge looks ripe for a breakout performance.
"He's definitely stepped forward from Sandown and we knew he would," trainer Karl Burke explained at the French Guineas meeting last weekend. "I'm glad I gave him the prep or we'd have had to have been a bit harder on him at home. He's taken a step forward. It will be an interesting race. It's obviously going to be a good race, but I'm going there quietly confident."
Cons: As with Damysus, until punters have seen Zeus Olympios competing at Group 1 level, everything is just potential. While a Group 2 winner, the Opera Ballo this Burke-trained miler beat in September's Joel Stakes looked a different horse to the front-runner who reversed the form at Sandown.
Sponsor's odds: 100-30
Notable Speech
Form: 5211-4
Pros: A four-time Group 1 winner whose Guineas and Sussex Stakes victories at three were followed by a Breeders' Cup success at four. That hat-trick of top-level successes is the best form in the race and Notable Speech also comes out on top on official and Racing Post Ratings.
Last month's disappointing traffic-hampered defeat in the Maker's Mark Mile Stakes at Keeneland will likely bring some improvement too, if you can ignore the yard form.
Cons: It is probably quite obvious where this is going. Charlie Appleby's tough start to 2026 has been one of the more striking early storylines to the new Flat season. No winners from 19 runners so far in May, including a barren Guineas weekend, have left many asking questions. Punters will likely be waiting for signs of improvement before backing Appleby's runners.
Sponsor's odds: 4-1
The Lion In Winter
Form: 3230-1
Pros: A year ago the market leader for this race, Damysus, was heading to the Derby, where a certain O'Brien colt had wintered as favourite. Since that day, neither Damysus nor The Lion In Winter have been seen at that trip again, but now both are contesting the first open company Group 1 of the season over a mile.
After disappointing in the Derby, a globetrotting campaign followed for The Lion In Winter, including Group 1 assignments in Britain, France, Hong Kong and the US. Several inconsistent and muddling months and races followed, but things started to click at the back end of last season with a hat-trick of Group 1 placings at Longchamp, Ascot on Champions Day and the Breeders' Cup.
A win on his seasonal reappearance at Leopardstown — Wayne Lordan describing it on the day as the performance of a horse who had matured from three to four — suggests another campaign of Group 1-chasing should be on the cards.
Cons: Until his season-opening Heritage Stakes victory, The Lion In Winter was winless in eight, a run stretching back to the 2024 Acomb Stakes. The last time O'Brien had a Lockinge winner was Rhododendron back in 2018, a relative drought by the master trainer's prolific standards.
Sponsor's odds: 11-2
How about the remainder?
More Thunder progressed from handicaps to Group 1s last season, via an agonising defeat by a head in the Wokingham at Royal Ascot. This test comes after 223 days off the track, although the William Haggas-trained five-year-old won on his reappearance last season.
French raider Sahlan represents an intriguing runner from the ever-dangerous Francis-Henri Graffard yard. Was fifth behind Notable Speech and The Lion In Winter at the Breeders' Cup in the autumn but had landed the Qatar Prix du Moulin de Longchamp, a maiden Group 1 win, a few weeks earlier.
Jonquil was well fancied for the Commonwealth Cup at Ascot last season but has since stepped up to a mile with wins in a Group 2 at Goodwood last summer and in a Listed race at Ascot two weeks ago. A win here would be the crowning moment of Andrew Balding's fine start to the year.
Cicero's Gift winning the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes on Champions Day at 100-1 was a fittingly unpredictable end to a 2025 of surprises and big-race long shots. There's no three-figure price to dive into this time around, but a repeat victory looks unlikely.
A year ago, Dancing Gemini was sent off favourite for this. Beaten a neck by Lead Artist that day, a third in the Prix Jacques le Marois was a rare return in an otherwise disappointing campaign. He was back in action and defeated in sixth at Sandown in the race won by Opera Ballo last month, and the 33-1 quoted about him by the sponsors this year is significantly chunkier than the 2-1 he was sent off at 12 months ago.
It couldn't happen again, could it? After last season's drama over the use of pacemakers, Ballydoyle have paid £20,000 to add Mississippi River to the Lockinge, presumably to aid The Lion In Winter. Qirat at Goodwood, Birr Castle at York – surely we're not in for another year of puzzling pacemaking performances? Surely...
Verdict
In the absence of an established star it is a wide-open Lockinge Stakes with several you would not be surprised to spot in the winner's enclosure come quarter to three on Saturday afternoon. Four-year-olds have a great record in this one and any of Damysus, Zeus Olympios or The Lion In Winter could be that next miler to step into the spotlight. With last year's issues hopefully now in the past, some sharper form towards the end of the season and an uninterrupted reappearance victory at Leopardstown under his belt, this might finally be the time for The Lion In Winter to deliver on all that potential.
Read more like this:
Damysus a flagbearer in Lockinge as Wathnan do things differently to the other big teams
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