Tepin’s son Delacroix meets Euro/Mideast Road race winners in Futurity Trophy

Oct 24, 2024 Kellie Reilly/Brisnet.com

Wimbledon Hawkeye takes home the Juddmonte Royal Lodge

The winners of the first two events on the Euro/Mideast Road to the Kentucky Derby, Wimbledon Hawkeye and Hotazhell, will square off in the next points race, Saturday’s Futurity Trophy (G1) at Doncaster. But vying for favoritism is the Aidan O’Brien-trained Delacroix, a son of Dubawi and Hall of Fame mare Tepin.

The Futurity Trophy is the third race at Doncaster, scheduled to go off at 9:40 a.m. (ET), and you can watch and wager at TwinSpires.com.

The lone entrant for O’Brien, who has won the Futurity Trophy 11 times, Delacroix comes off a battling victory in the Autumn (G3) at Newmarket. His only losses have come at the hands of Green Impact, in his stakes debut and in the Champions Juvenile (G2), and that nemesis is already enjoying his winter vacation.

Instead, Delacroix will have to deal with Green Impact’s stablemate from the Jessica Harrington yard, Hotazhell. The well-named son of Too Darn Hot picked up 10 points on the Euro/Mideast Road when capturing the Sept. 28 Beresford (G2) at the Curragh. The winner of three of his past four, Hotazhell also won the July 25 Tyros (G3) at Leopardstown and placed second in the Curragh’s Futurity (G2) to O’Brien favorite Henri Matisse, who is pre-entered in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf (G1).

The two Irish shippers will meet a strong home defense led by Wimbledon Hawkeye, who banked 10 points by beating Royal Playwright in the Royal Lodge (G2) at Newmarket. The James Owen trainee improved on the step up to a mile after placing twice in seven-furlong contests, the Superlative (G2) and the Acomb (G3) (to O’Brien’s highly-regarded The Lion in Winter). Wimbledon Hawkeye will try to emulate his first-crop sire, Kameko, the hero of the 2019 edition of this race.

Kameko’s trainer, Andrew Balding, sends out Royal Playwright. Third in the seven-furlong Solario (G3) before progressing to second in the Royal Lodge, he hopes to turn the tables on Wimbledon Hawkeye at Doncaster.

The remaining four contenders are all promising types making their stakes debuts here.

John and Thady Gosden are double-handed with Detain and Nebras. Juddmonte homebred Detain, 2-for-2 over Kempton’s Polytrack, just romped by seven lengths in his latest. Nebras, a half-brother to champion filly Nashwa, won his lone start down Newmarket’s Rowley Mile.

Godolphin trainer Charlie Appleby is represented by Anno Domini, who justified favoritism in both of his starts over the summer. But he’ll need to strike top form off a nearly four-month layoff.

Seaplane broke his maiden in his third attempt for Paul and Oliver Cole. The son of champion Golden Horn has been improving in each and every start, culminating in a dominant display at Newmarket.

The Futurity Trophy is the last of the Euro/Mideast Road races this fall on turf, each offering points on the 10-5-3-2-1 format. The series resumes on the European all-weather in late February, when the points double, and concludes with the April 5 UAE Derby (G2) on the Meydan dirt, worth a bonanza of points on a scale of 100-50-25-15-10.

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