Euro/Mideast Road to Derby commences with Royal Lodge, Beresford

Sep 26, 2024 Kellie Reilly/Brisnet.com

On Saturday, European-based juveniles will have their first opportunities to score points toward the 2025 Kentucky Derby (G1). The Royal Lodge (G2) at Newmarket and the Beresford (G2) at the Curragh usher in the newly rebranded Euro/Mideast Road, which now includes the April 5 UAE Derby (G2) at Meydan on Dubai World Cup night.

The Royal Lodge and Beresford each offer points on the 10-5-3-2-1 scale to the top five finishers. Aidan O’Brien and Andrew Balding have contenders in both one-mile events.

You can watch and wager on the Royal Lodge (post time 8:50 a.m. ET) and Beresford (post time 9:35 a.m. ET) at TwinSpires.com.

Royal Lodge (G2)

O’Brien sends Puppet Master over to Britain to make his stakes debut in the Royal Lodge. The son of Camelot showed plenty of potential when runner-up first time out at Killarney, and he moved forward significantly to dominate an Aug. 3 maiden at Galway.

Angelo Buonarroti, a €1 million son of Justify, also steps up in class from a maiden score. The Amo Racing runner made an ambitious career debut in the Coventry (G2) at Royal Ascot, where he was a creditable ninth of 22. Subsequently switched to high-percentage trainer Ralph Beckett, Angelo Buonarroti won a rich maiden during York’s Ebor Festival.

The early Royal Lodge favorite is the Charlie Fellowes-trained Luther. By the all-time great Frankel, hero of the 2010 Royal Lodge, Luther comes off a sparkling victory in the Sept. 7 Ascendant S. at Haydock. His only loss was a close second in the Aug. 14 Stonehenge S. at Salisbury to New Century, who has since captured the Summer (G1) at Woodbine to earn a spot in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf (G1).

Balding’s hopeful, Royal Playwright, just finished third in the Solario (G3) to the well-regarded Field of Gold. The stretch-out to a mile is likely to help the son of Lope de Vega and Group 1 winner Arabian Queen, who famously upset champion Golden Horn in the 2015 Juddmonte International (G1).

Wimbledon Hawkeye is another with smart form. Third in the Superlative (G2) back in July, the James Owen pupil was most recently second in the Acomb (G3) to O’Brien’s The Lion in Winter, who at the moment tops the antepost betting market for next year’s Epsom Derby (G1).

Wimbledon Hawkeye’s sire, Kameko, was a near-miss runner-up in the 2019 Royal Lodge. Himself a son of U.S. turf champion Kitten’s Joy, Kameko has a second entrant in Hawksbill, who was fourth behind Luther at Haydock.

Law of Design exits an Ascot novice victory for Brian Meehan. That came on soft ground, the conditions expected at Newmarket on Saturday. Puppet Master is the only other contender proven on soft going.

Beresford (G2)

Back home in Ireland, O’Brien has two of the five entrants in the Beresford, a race that he has won an incredible 21 times.

Leading his duo is Trinity College, who crushed a Galway maiden by 12 lengths in his latest. The addition of blinkers made quite a difference for the son of Dubawi and dual classic heroine Hermosa. Stablemate Lambourn extended his record to 2-for-2 in the Criterium de l’Ouest at Craon, yet interestingly adds blinkers here.

Jessica Harrington has the most accomplished of the quintet in Hotazhell. The Too Darn Hot colt captured the July 25 Tyros (G3) at Leopardstown prior to chasing home O’Brien’s Henri Matisse in the Futurity (G2) here at the Curragh.

Balding ships Windlord across the Irish Sea for his stakes debut. The Juddmonte homebred was promising in his first two starts, but improved markedly on the step up to a mile at York. By Dubawi and out of a daughter of mile legend Goldikova, Windlord bolted up by 5 1/2 lengths in that Sept. 8 novice.

Rounding out the field is Tennessee Stud from the yard of Joseph O’Brien. Third behind Puppet Master in his unveiling, Tennessee Stud came back to wire a Tipperary maiden.

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