Will it be Charlie Appleby again or can Aidan O'Brien lay down a marker for the big juvenile races to come?

It’s Newmarket, it’s a juvenile race, so it must be won by Charlie Appleby. That has been a sound conclusion to reach in recent years on both courses as the Godolphin trainer has saddled two of the last three winners of this race, from just three runners in that period.

One of those winners was Modern Games, who went on to land the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf and a further four Group or Grade 1 races across the globe. That gives hope for this year’s representative Legend Of Time, who comes here after winning a novice at Haydock.

Appleby had won that Haydock race with New Kingdom in 2021 and Castle Way in 2022, and it seems clear he likes to run a good one there. We might get an indication of just how good Legend Of Time could be when Wafei lines up in the opening maiden (1.50) on the card.

Wafei finished a short head behind Legend Of Time in that Haydock contest and the first two pulled a length and a quarter clear of the third. If Wafei comes out and wins the opener, it will be a boost for Legend Of Time’s chances of landing this Group race on his second start.

The other trainer with a good record is Aidan O’Brien. He saddled Whitecliffsofdover to finish second in 2016 and Wichita to score four years ago. This season he saddles Naas maiden winner Military, who shaped like he would improve for the experience when successful on his debut two weeks ago and is sure to appreciate stepping up a furlong in trip.
Race analysis by Graeme Rodway

What they say

Richard Hills, assistant racing manager to Shadwell Estates, owners of Alyanaabi
He’s a nice horse who didn’t have the run of the race at Ascot last time but he still ran well to be fourth. This will tell us a bit more about him but we expect him to be bang up there.

Roger Varian, trainer of Boiling Point
He won what looked a decent race over this trip at Thirsk last time and he should improve as he’s been a slow learner. We’ve always rated him and he deserves to take his chance in a Group race.

Philip Robinson, racing manager to Mohammed Jaber, owner of Change For Good
Not many of David Simcock’s two-year-olds win first time out, so what we saw at Epsom from him was very encouraging. He’ll have learnt plenty from that and we’re very hopeful of another good showing.

Richard Spencer, trainer of Cross The Tracks
He did well to win what looked the stronger of the two divisions at Yarmouth first time up when he was very professional. That was over six furlongs but he finished off well that day so should enjoy this extra furlong.

John Gosden, joint-trainer of Eben Shaddad
He won nicely on decent ground on his debut on the July course, after which we had hoped to run him in the Mill Reef Stakes but the ground at Newbury was as heavy as I can remember it. He’s only run once and is short on experience but he’s going the right way.

Sean Levey, rider of Inishfallen
He just got collared in the Solario Stakes last time, but this looks a stronger race on paper and he’ll run a good race if the ground continues to dry out.

Charlie Appleby, trainer of Legend Of Time
Legend Of Time learned plenty on his debut and looks to have come forward for the run. He is dropping back to seven furlongs but I feel it's well within his compass. We are dipping our toe at this level to see where we are for the rest of the campaign.

Aidan O'Brien, trainer of Military
He's still a baby. We're up to seven furlongs this time and we think it'll be a good experience for him no matter what happens. We think he's a very nice colt for the future.

David Egan, rider of Son Of Man
He finished off his race well when winning over six furlongs on his debut at Yarmouth last time, before which connections said he would be better over seven. That was only nine days ago so hopefully he can back that up.
Reporting by David Milnes

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