'It was an impressive debut and we couldn't be happier with him' - race in focus, horses to note and best quotes for Newmarket

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Race in focus: Betway Earl of Sefton Stakes (3.00)

The Richard Hannon-trained Persica ended Charlie Appleby’s three-year winning run in this race last season and the five-year-old returns in a bid to build a sequence of his own.

The Group 3 is Newmarket’s first Pattern race of the year and recent trends offer a mixed picture. In the last ten years, excluding the Covid-affected year, the three most recent winners had all had a run that calendar year before heading to the Rowley Mile. 

Ottoman Fleet completed a double in 2023 and 2024 after runs at Meydan, while Persica was third in the Winter Derby before scoring last year. However, the six winners before that all made successful seasonal debuts, suggesting a shift in approach in more recent years.

Of the six runners, only two have had a run this season. Skukuza was fifth in the Group 3 Prix Edmond Blanc just over a fortnight ago in less-than-ideal softer conditions and the Karl Burke-trained Boiling Point was fourth in the Winter Derby at Lingfield in February.

Persica bids to follow a different route to last year and the other seasonal debutants are Wathnan’s Damysus and King’s Gambit, along with the Dylan Cunha-trained Prague.

Damysus (red cap) wins the Darley Stakes last seasonCredit: Edward Whitaker (racingpost.com/photos)

Damysus is a course-and-distance winner who ended last season with back-to-back victories, including the Darley Stakes. He is trained by John and Thady Gosden, whose yard won this most recently with Mahsoob in 2016, and will be ridden by James Doyle.

Richard Brown, racing adviser to Wathnan, said: "Damysus has done well over the winter. He's strengthened up and his work has been good. James has ridden him a few times and been very happy with him. This is obviously a starting point and he's got a penalty, which is never easy. It looks an open race and hopefully he can get his season started well.

"King's Gambit has also had a good winter. It was quite tough on him last year. We took him to Qatar for the Amir Trophy and he never really got a break, although he ran very well at Royal Ascot. We've given him a long winter break and Harry [Charlton] feels he'll come on for the run."
Oliver Barnard

Key horses for punters

Dark Thirty (1.50)

A likeable sort who won this race in 2024 and had another productive spring last year, winning at Doncaster and finishing second at the Dante meeting. He ended 2025 on a downer, with sixth in a heritage handicap at the Ebor meeting about as good as it got after June. 

Dark Thirty wins the Newmarket race in 2024Credit: Mark Cranham (racingpost.com/photos)

He has moved to John and Sean Quinn, who do well with older sprint handicappers. He showed plenty of dash on his stable debut on Lincoln weekend, before plainly getting tired, and has surely been primed either for this race or a return to the Knavesmire. Following him ought to bear fruit soon.
Keith Melrose

Havana Lightning (4.10)

Some good pedigrees are on show in this 5f fillies' maiden and Havana Lightning has one of them.

She is by Havana Grey out of a sister to triple Group 1 winner The Tin Man and half-sister to Group 2 scorer Deacon Blues. They don't come much faster than those two and Havana Lightning's dam was also a 5f winner.

Havana Lightning cost 110,000gns as a foal, so has the price tag to go with her pedigree, and George Boughey has booked William Buick to ride on her debut. Buick has a 23 per cent strike-rate for the trainer, so his booking looks significant.

She is an early February foal, which makes her the oldest in this field, and everything points to her being too speedy for these rivals. In the longer term connections will almost certainly have one eye on Royal Ascot.
Graeme Rodway

Ranga Tang (5.17)

A few good prospects line up in the three-year-old handicap and one with a bright future over middle distances is Ranga Tang.

The son of Lope De Vega finished fifth on his debut in a September Newmarket maiden that has worked out well and he bounced back from a lesser run at Goodwood when beaten just a neck in a Wolverhampton novice in November.

That all-weather run is another piece of form that has worked out well, with the fourth, fifth and sixth all winning next time out (eighth has also won twice since). Both his pedigree and his stride data suggest he’s going to improve for this step up to ten furlongs and the handicapper may have taken a chance with an opening handicap mark of 80.

Possibly he will need the run after five months off but he is the least exposed in the field, having just his fourth start, and James Owen’s turf three-year-olds tend to be underestimated in the market. Backing all of Owen’s three-year-olds on turf has returned a £34.94 level-stakes profit to £1 stakes in the last five seasons.
Phill Anderson

Best of the quotes

Tom Clover, trainer of Invictus Gold (1.50)
It’s a lovely starting point and he’s been training nicely. He’s got a reasonable amount of weight to give away, which isn't going to be straightforward. But he’s trained well and has come nicely in his coat, so I hope he’ll run a good race.

Invictus Gold wins on the Rowley Mile last MayCredit: John Grossick (racingpost.com/photos)

Sean Quinn, joint-trainer of Eye Of Dubai and Dark Thirty (1.50)
Dark Thirty has come out of Doncaster fine and should improve for that run. He has run well at Newmarket in the past. Eye Of Dubai ran well at the back end of last year and has wintered well. He seems to be training nicely at home and we're looking forward to getting him up and running for the season.

Marco Ghiani, rider of Humam (1.50), Sea Of Sardinia (4.10) and Archers Bay (5.17)
Humam ran well when he was third at Newmarket over seven furlongs last year. He's been gelded over the winter and should run a good race back at the track. Sea Of Sardinia has been working nicely among the other unraced juveniles and we'll find out plenty about her. Archers Bay is in good shape and won nicely at Wolverhampton last time. I've never ridden him on the grass, so we'll see how he handles it, but he shouldn't have a problem.

Hollie Doyle, rider of Zoulu Chief (1.50) and Wareeth (2.25)
Zoulu Chief is consistent, tough and hopefully has improved a bit for being gelded. He's been busy enough on the all-weather, so he'll go there fit. He handles Newmarket, having run well there last season. It was a pretty impressive debut from Wareeth at Newcastle on the all-weather and he's been ticking over nicely since then. We couldn't be happier with him. It's much deeper waters and we can find out plenty more about him.

Ed Dunlop, trainer of Skukuza (3.00)
He ran very well at Doha, where he was unlucky. Then he went to France, but the ground was very soft and didn't really suit. It's a competitive, small field but he seems in good form. He might have a bit of a fitness edge and Ryan Moore knows him very well.

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