Racing
Ten dark horses to follow in the 2020 Flat Season
After his article discussing the highly rated horses to follow in the 2020 flat season, racing expect Steven Dowler returns. This time he lists his ten dark horses to follow in the 2020 flat season.
BOOSALA
Boosala is a son of the classy Dawn Approach and won both starts as a two-year-old, clocking a good figure each time, and looks to be one of the dark horses to follow in the 2020 flat season.
He looked very professional at Windsor over six furlongs, especially on racecourse debut when seeing off the 86 rated Raahy who had experience on his side at the time. Stepped up to seven furlongs next time, Boosala made light work of a class 3 event at York when sent off 1-6 favourite, winning by three lengths.
William Haggas hasn’t got many Qipco 2000 Guineas entries this season but Boosala looks interesting value and connections clearly think a lot of him to have provided him with an entry. Boosala has yet to test one mile but, with more improvement to come this campaign, we can expect this very nice horse to develop into an above-average sort for connections.
HYPOTHETICAL
John Gosden has some really nice three-year-olds on his hands this season with Hypothetical among them. This son of Lope De Vega made a bright start to his racing career when justifying strong market support in a class 3 at Chelmsford.
In the process of that success, Hypothetical achieved a pretty useful speed figures and we can expect him to progress further when switched to the turf especially with the way he slaughtered his field on debut, winning by a comfortable five lengths.
His current odds of 33-1 for the Qipco 2000 Guineas look attractive and could shorten if he achieves some nice victories beforehand. If you’re looking for value horses to follow in the 2020 flat season, you could do much worse.
ENCIPHER
It’s not often you see a John Gosden horse owned by Godolphin but Enchipher fits that category. Having shown good form to finish an eye-catching second on debut, he went one better next time out when staying on nicely at Newmarket under a cool ride from Oisin Murphy.
Encipher did all his best work towards the back end of that contest, suggesting a step up in trip next time would be beneficial. Even though I think he will get further than one mile in due course, we are most likely to see him stay over the mile distance this season. With another season to fill into his frame, we could be looking at a potential group class horse and certainly one of the horses to follow in the 2020 flat season.
MILITARY MARCH
Saeed bin Suroor has been very bullish about this unbeaten three-year-old, trained by the master himself. He won both starts as a two-year-old at Newmarket, with the latest of those wins coming at group three level where he was headed late on but battled back in game fashion to take the spoils and extend his winning sequence.
Since that success, connections’ had already mapped out a plan for him this season and that was be in the pipeline for both the 2000 Guineas and Derby. Clearly held in high regard, Military March has the potential to become a group one horse and I make him one of the main horses to follow in the 2020 flat season.
KHALOOSY
Roger Varian has another nice horse on his hands named Khaloosy. He shaped well on debut when finishing second over seven furlongs, despite being overlooked in the market. Then he duly built on that promise when a breathtaking winner at Wolverhampton on his only start since.
Although that was only a class 5 race on the all-weather, Khaloosy could do no more than beat what was in front of him and the change of gear he showed towards the backend of the race suggested that he is a horse with loads of ability and more improvement to come. His only big entry to date is the 2000 Guineas but I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see him go well in lower class company prior to that assignment.
MILLISLE
Jessica Harrington has a very good filly called Millisle, who was a brilliant two-year-old, earning recognition as the best of her age in Europe.
She has won three of her five starts, finishing second in the other two runs. Her latest victory came in the group 1 Cheverley Park Stakes at Newmarket where she defeated odds-on favourite Raffle Prize, who is a top-class horse in his own right.
Shane Foley gave the filly an enterprising ride from the rear of the field to quicken up nicely inside the final furlong, despite being sent off 16-1. The daughter of Starspangledbanner looks set to have a big 2020/21 campaign with entries in the 1000 Guineas across Ireland and England and, with more improvement to come, we can expect her to remain competitive in all the major group 1 fillies events and other engagements.
POETIC FLARE
Jim Bolger has high hopes for Poetic Flare who could be one of the key horses to follow in 2020. He was a really good winner on debut, powering clear of an expensive Aidan O’Brien purchase. This son of Dawn Approach will try to uphold his father’s reputation and connections are plotting the same route.
Poetic Flare holds major entries in a variety of group 1 races and, on the back of his scintillating display on debut, we can expect him to develop into a top-level competitor in due course.
SEARCH FOR A SONG
Dermot Weld is well known for having high-class stayers in recent times and Search For a Song looks another for him. She has improved with each outing and, having won a listed event at York, she stepped up to 1m6f for the first time in the Irish St Leger in group 1 company and beat a top-class field.
The performance this filly showed was extraordinary considering she raced keenly in the early stages. Chris Hayes couldn’t restrain her any longer and his mount motored through the field.
To her credit, despite pressure in the final furlong, she still found loads to stay on strongly and score by more than two lengths. Although she was getting weight from the field, she beat Cross Counter (Melbourne Cup winner), Kew Gardens (group 1 winner), Capri (group 1 winner) and other solid group 1 performers in their own right.
I think there is much more to come from Search For A Song who could be a seriously underrated stayer as we speak. Add in her fillies allowance, a big advantage over the boys, and I really can’t wait to see what she can do this season and prove that success to be no fluke.
BRENTFORD HOPE
Richard Hughes is on the right track as a trainer having been a brilliant jockey. It has taken him a while to find a really good horse but now he possibly has one in Brentford Hope.
The son of Camelot made a sparkling racecourse debut at Newmarket over 1m2f. He raced keenly for the majority of the contest but cruised into contention under a typical Jamie Spencer ride before showing a turn of foot to score by five lengths.
I think the Guineas trips will be on the short side for him. Therefore, the middle distance races look perfect and his sole entry to date is the Irish Derby, which I find very interesting. He is a horse definitely one of the horses to follow in the 2020 flat season.
FISCAL RULES
Fiscal Rules is trained by Jim Bolger and has only raced once to date and is now a three-year-old. However, the promise he showed on debut suggested we could be looking at an above average colt. He made his debut at the Curragh over seven furlongs and gave the promising Wichita a real battle, going down by a head.
The winner has since won a group three and finished one length third behind potentially the greatest horse since Frankel in group 1 company at Newmarket. Fiscal Rules is sure to improve so much from that sole start to date and there is a good chance he can turn out to be a group 1 horse for connections.
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