I have to admit , whilst I want every horse from Somerville Lodge to win, had Eternal Force won at Goodwood on Sunday at 11/1 instead of his 2nd place finish, I would have been gutted.
His excellent run did go along way to restoring the faith I had him, but maybe with his imminent sale, a horse that was in my top 10 to follow for the 2025 season will go through the season winner less .
The season is rapidly winding down and this is emphasized with four runners sent to three meetings on Monday.
The yard has numerous well bred 2yo’s yet to see a racecourse and much of the next 4 weeks and then onto the AW in November and December will be spent looking for the juveniles that will be horses to follow as 3yo’s.
It is accurate to say that the 2yo’s that have appeared so far in 2026 have not excelled and it is slightly worrying that many have gone backwards after showing initial promise.
That was the case on Friday when Sharadd despite remaining undefeated underwhelmed following up his Haydock win at York . Then on Saturday Majestic Jude the 2/1 favourite was woeful at Newmarket finishing last. The signs had been clear at Thirsk where his odds on victory looked below the performance levels after his Newmarket win.
In total there have been just 12 individual 2yo winners of 17 races in 2026. At the end of 2025 there were 33 juvenile race winners. I suspect 25 will be the most that can be expected in 2026.
Along with Sharadd and Majestic Jude’s failure to progress the Windsor winner Lady Rosalind has not appeared to want to run any sort of race subsequently. Only Diplomata has won nurseries with 9 other attempts from Somerville Lodge horses yet to hit the frame.
On Monday the 4 runners represent various degrees of betting opportunity:
Born This Way 1.54 Yarmouth is beautifully bred and will probably be among the market leaders. A first time out 2yo they remain best watched.
The 3yo Indhaar returns after a 3 month break and a gelding operation. The fact he is sent to Newcastle in the Autumn based on trends makes him worthy of bet. After Saturday and the erratic performances of the runners I am going to largely take a back seat with regard to betting for the rest of the season. If the market support is strong up to the off he is the most likely Haggas winner on the day.
The 3rd runner Fan Me in the 5.45 Kempton is poor and will do well to win a race before he is sold in The Autumn sales.
Finally First Principle in the Kempton 6.45 has gone backwards since winning on the AW in March. In spite of hardly beating another runner in 5 subsequent outings he is only 3lb lower in the handicap and although being back on the AW may help – he is along way from being a betting opportunity and is another headed for the Autumn sales.
REFA Hagtag 2026.
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