O'Brien out to land inaugural all-weather Group 1 in rescheduled Vertem Futurity

6.00 Newcastle
Vertem Futurity Trophy Stakes (Group 1) | 1m | 2yo | SKY

Aidan O'Brien has made a habit of winning the Vertem Futurity Trophy – previously known as the Racing Post Trophy – and if the betting is an accurate guide, he is an odds-on shot to walk away with the Group 1 prize again.

However, his team is nowhere near as overwhelmingly dominant as it was for the same race at Doncaster last Saturday before the meeting was abandoned due to waterlogging.

O'Brien was going to saddle five of the six runners that day, with just the Andrew Balding-trained Kameko in the way of O'Brien's battalion.

Innisfree winning the Beresford StakesCredit: Patrick McCann

He still launches a five-strong assault on a race he has won nine times already, most recently with subsequent 2,000 Guineas winners Saxon Warrior and Magna Grecia, but this ground-breaking first all-weather Group 1 now boasts a competitive field of 12. Kameko is joined in opposition by Ralph Beckett's supplemented wide-margin Newmarket winner Kinross, and runners from the stables of Jim Bolger, John Gosden and William Haggas.

O'Brien, who needs one more winner to join Sir Henry Cecil as the winningmost trainer of the race, has reshuffled his pack by introducing Year of the Tiger and New World Tapestry in place of Louisiana and Iberia, but highly promising Group 2 winner Mogul, who is a brother to Japan, and Innisfree remain his stand-out contenders.

O'Brien, who is at Santa Anita supervising his Breeders' Cup team, said: "Mogul and Innisfree are very well. Obviously it is a bit of a pity we didn't get to run in Doncaster. They're on the surface for a first time and we believe it is a very good surface. This has been their target for a long time, but whatever happens they are nice horses for next year.

"New World Tapestry won his maiden at Newmarket and we think the trip and the surface and the track will suit him well. Year Of The Tiger is in good form and we think the surface will suit him as well."

All-weather surface should suit Kinross

Kinross joined an exclusive club after his impressive eight-length win in a Newmarket maiden last month earned him a Racing Post Rating of 101, just the third British two-year-old winner in the last ten years to register a three-figure performance on debut.

The others were Calyx, who, like Kinross, is a son of Kingman, and former 2,000 Guineas winner Night Of Thunder.

It was a 'wow' performance that impressed even the most critical of judges, and with substance having been added to the style of that success by convincing wins from the runner-up and the fifth, it is no surprise that Kinross is now pressing Mogul for favouritism in some lists as he steps up in grade.

Ralph Beckett, who would have run Kinross in the Group 3 Horris Hill Stakes at Newbury last weekend had that not also been washed out, is delighted to have the opportunity to run the colt in a Group 1 on a surface he hopes might suit.

He said: "I don't think the surface will be a problem, if anything it might be a positive. His pedigree and action suggest it will suit him."

"It's difficult to expect a performance like that [on debut] – whatever the opposition and however well he or she has been going at home – but he'd been showing up well and that was reflected by his starting price.

"We are throwing him in at the deep end, but it's the right time to do it. He's trained well since and I'm delighted to be able to run him on a quicker surface."

Tougher test for Kameko

The Tapeta surface is an unknown for all 12 runners, but trainer Andrew Balding is not unduly concerned about the new experience for Kameko.

In fact, he is hopeful that the all-weather surface will be better for his colt’s chances than the heavy ground he would have encountered had Doncaster gone ahead at the weekend.

Kameko (far side): represents Andrew BaldingCredit: Mark Cranham

He said: "It's an entirely different test but I would hope that Tapeta might be a more suitable surface than really soft ground at Doncaster.

"I'm very pleased with the way that he has developed throughout the year and I'm hoping he'll run a really good race. It's a tougher race than last week's in terms of numbers, but it's got to be good for racing that it's been rescheduled."

Not simply making up the numbers

Kinross has the biggest reputation of the new entries, but discount the rest of the runners at your peril.

John Gosden saddles the Godolphin-owned Verboten, who has not been seen since his successful debut at Yarmouth in July and remains an exciting prospect.

Futurity history

This is not the first time that the Futurity has been run at Newcastle. The last time it happened was in 1989, when the dawning of all-weather racing was still two days away. It was the race's first of 29 years under the Racing Post banner and it was transferred to Newcastle owing to subsidence at Doncaster. Henry Cecil's Be My Chief made it six wins from six starts with an unchallenged four-length victory from John Dunlop's Baligh.

William Haggas runs Tammani, who has registered two smart performances in France, most recently when an unchallenged four-length winner of a Listed race at Deauville last week.

Jim Bolger's Geometrical and the Emmet Mullins-trained King Of The Throne complete the field.

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