Future Champion’s Day – Preview

Make it a Double - Unbeaten colts Reckless Abandon and Dawn Approach are the stars of Future Champion's Day

One week before the biggest day in the UK flat racing calendar: QIPCO Champion’s Day at Ascot, some of the horses that may be starring at Champion’s Day in twelve months time get the chance to strut their stuff on Future Champion’s Day at Newmarket.

The highlights of the day, primarily for two-year-olds, are the Group 1 Middle Park Stakes and the Group 1 Dewhurst Stakes; but there are four other Group races on the card (2 Group 2s and 2 Group 3s) as well as the Cesarewitch the great staying handicap.

Although the Challenge, the Autumn, the Rockfell and the Darley Stakes all look set to be great races in their own right, as well as the Cesarewitch being as competitive as usual (I like Triumph Hurdle winner Countrywide Flame for that for what it’s worth), it is the two Group 1s I want to focus on here as both feature an unbeaten star two-year-old.

First on the card comes the Middle Park Stakes which sees the return to UK shores of Royal Ascot winner Reckless Abandon now in search of a fifth career win after two impressive victories in France in recent months.

Already a Group 1 winner following his all the way success in the Prix Morny at Deauville last time out, Reckless Abandon has established himself as one of the top two-year-olds we’ve seen this season.

If he comes to Newmarket at the same level he’s been operating at thus far he should be very hard to beat this weekend. He’s already had several of these behind him this season, including main market rival Moohaajim – who ironically will be ridden by Adam Kirby who rode Reckless Abandon on his first two starts – and there is no good reason any of them should reverse the form this time around.

Gerald Mosse is flying over to take the ride again after riding him to victory twice across the channel and that looks to be a telling sign. Reckless Abandon has shown signs of quirkiness previously, most notably when hanging across the track in the Norfolk at Royal Ascot and also showing signs of doing the same in the Papin at Maisons-Laffitte. He took to his task far more professionally in the Morny though thanks to Mosse grabbing the rail early and will hopefully now have gotten over the greenness that looked to have caused those early behavioural problems.

The manner in which he’s won in spite of those erratic moments marks him as a very smart horse indeed and if he’s now grown up and can go about his business trouble-free he may be unbeaten for some time to come.

The Aidan O’Brien duo that chased him home in the Morny George Vancouver and Parliament Square re-oppose again as does the fifth that day the aforementioned Moohaajim who looks the biggest danger having subsequently come out and landed the Group 2 Mill Reef from another of the Middle Park contenders Master Of War.

Moohaajim looked good that day, having had a somewhat less than ideal passage through the race he briefly looked in trouble before getting some daylight and really flying home under very little coaxing from the jockey.

He is clearly a horse going places but Reckless Abandon sets the standard and although the consistent Heavy Metal and another unbeaten horse in Kevin Ryan’s Blaine are also likely to line-up on Saturday, Darley have seen enough to purchase him and I see no reason his winning sequence will come to an end this weekend.

Another unbeaten two-year-old Sheikh Mohammed has already invested in is Dawn Approach who is favourite for the other Group 1 on Newmarket’s card the Dewhurst.

Reckless Abandon will need to be at his best to win the Middle Park but looking at the potential opposition for Dawn Approach in the Dewhurst he could probably win doing handstands. Simply put he’s light years ahead of the rest of the horses in there, even if the official ratings don’t necessarily back that sentiment up entirely.

As if that wasn’t enough, Dawn Approach’s trainer Jim Bolger has a record in the race second to none, including landing the spoils last year with Parish Hall.

Dawn Approach originally made waves with his early season form in Ireland before coming over here to land the Coventry at Royal Ascot in good style – the form of which now looks increasingly solid given Olympic Glory’s (2nd) subsequent exploits.

He finally got his Group 1 win after a few false starts due to ground when looking nothing short of a machine taking the National Stakes at The Curragh and this has always been his end of season target, given his profile and his trainer’s exceptional record he looks as much of a certainty as you can get in this game unless your name’s Frankel.

If a huge upset is to occur in the Dewhurst then John Gosden’s Dansili colt Ashdan could be the one to cause it. He didn’t get going as early in his two-year-old campaign as Dawn Approach but is also unbeaten and followed up a good Newmarket maiden victory on his debut with a win at Doncaster during Leger week. This is obviously much tougher and he is facing a very good horse in Dawn Approach but he looks the sort that could be anything and isn’t taken lightly.

Prior to disappointing performances last time out Dundonnell and Havana Gold would’ve rated massive dangers to the favourite but the latter looked to find nothing at the weekend when cruising to the front in the Tattersalls Millions 2YO Trophy and eventually went down a head to the winner who’d been off the bridle well before.

Dundonnell’s Acomb win at York had many flagging up as the best two-year-old out there but he was firmly put in his place behind Toronado next time out and needs to bounce back to his best to trouble Dawn Approach here.

Beyond those mentioned this really does look like an easy opportunity for Dawn Approach to make it a perfect two-year-old campaign and head in to 2013 still unbeaten.

With the unbeaten Reckless Abandon also looking to cap off 2012 with a win and remain undefeated Saturday could be a very good day for Sheikh Mohammed. There’s not much value to be had in backing either on their own unfortunately though – although the 2/1 still available on Reckless Abandon does look a shade generous – so the way forward to me looks like a win double on the two horses already purchased by one of Racing’s biggest benefactors with an eye on next year’s Classics.

Recommendation:

Win Double on Dawn Approach (4/6) & Reckless Abandon (2/1) @ 4/1 [Paddy Power]