horses to follow

The return of Seven Days earlier this week allows us to close the book on the stopgap that was Winter Watch. Before you know it the first Classics of the season will be upon us, leaving the cold, dark months that spanned 13 editions of this column since it first came into being in November as nothing but a distant memory. Albeit not too distant, I hope. After all, the whole reason why we embarked on this journey in the first place was with those very Classics in mind, informed...

Another 'TDN Rising Star' was born across the Channel on Tuesday, as We'll Defend (Fr) followed in the footsteps of Mandanaba (Fr) (Ghaiyyath {Ire}) and Tito Mo Cen (Ire) (Uncle Mo) by producing a sparkling debut display on the Chantilly polytrack. All told, We'll Defend is the sixth now-three-year-old to have earned 'TDN Rising Star' status in Europe since Winter Watch came into being in November, with Falakeyah (GB) (New Bay {GB}), Bowmark (GB) (Kingman {GB}) and Opera Ballo (Ire) (Ghaiyyath {Ire}) also having impressed in Britain in that time....

"An eagle-eyed former Timeform employee, Adam guarantees that if the next Notable Speech is out there, about to make his debut on the all-weather this winter before marching on to Classic glory, then he will spot him. No pressure, then." Those were the words of TDN colleague Emma Berry when she penned her final Seven Days column of 2024, teeing up what was to come in the column introduced in its stead for the winter. Now, in this 12th edition of Winter Watch, we've reached the stage where it's time...

After Brian Sheerin provided his 10 horses to follow during the 2025 Irish Flat season, we now head to Britain where Adam Houghton has been poring over the pedigrees and performances to narrow down his list of under-the-radar three-year-olds--including potential Classic contenders available at odds of 33-1 and 40-1 for their respective targets. Almeric (GB) Study Of Man (Ire) colt out of Alvarita (GB) (Selkirk) Form: 41 Trainer: Andrew Balding Study Of Man only has 58 two-year-olds to run for him this year, but there's enough promise among his latest...

The WhatsApp group titled TDN Europe was abuzz on Wednesday evening of last week, after the Charlie Appleby-trained Opera Ballo (Ire) had announced himself as potentially something out of the ordinary with a jet-propelled performance in the first division of the one-mile maiden at Kempton. "Big day for Ghaiyyath!!" pinged the first message from Brian Sheerin, barely seconds after Opera Ballo had powered past the line in a different postcode to his eight rivals, becoming the second first-time-out winner for his Kildangan Stud-based sire in the space of a few...

Tragedy struck Charlie Appleby and the Godolphin team in Dubai last week when their Measured Time (GB) (Frankel {GB}) lost his life in his quest for a second consecutive triumph in the G1 Jebel Hatta. A seven-time winner all told, with his other wins including last year's GI Manhattan Stakes at Saratoga, he was a terrific servant to connections and another star name for whom it all began on the all-weather. In fact, it will be exactly two years ago on Saturday that he ran out an emphatic debut winner...

It was perhaps fitting last week that the inaugural edition of Winter Watch going to print should coincide with the arrival of snow across many parts of Britain, albeit we now find ourselves with one less meeting to report on after the cold snap brought terminal consequences for a certain all-weather track in Nottinghamshire. Consider yourself lucky if you spent that particular Monday evening in the warmth of home, cup of tea in hand ready to find out what this Winter Watch was all about. Meanwhile, all of those involved...

Welcome to Winter Watch, the new column with the unenviable task of trying to fill the void that now exists after Emma Berry penned her final Seven Days column of 2024, not to return until we hand the baton over again next spring. It's a daunting act to try and follow, but then at least we're in solidarity with the horses who will be the subject matter of this column over the coming weeks and months. The Berry boots might be big ones to fill, but so too are those...