Five high-class older horses due to reappear next month

BIG ROCK (Timeform rating 129) Trainer: Christopher Head

Big Rock looked nothing out of the ordinary in his early starts but after a change of stable he made huge strides, progressing from winning a handicap on the polytrack at Chantilly in February to putting up the best performance seen over a mile all year with a striking performance in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes. The tall, well-made son of high-class miler Rock of Gibraltar was beaten in his first three starts, including when blinkered for his two runs as a two-year-old.

But after a switch to Christopher Head’s stable, Big Rock made rapid strides in the spring, running up a four-timer by a combined distance of more than seventeen lengths. He soon proved better than a handicapper, following up that initial success with a win in a listed race, also on the all-weather at Chantilly, and then made all in what became his trademark fashion in a couple of Group 3 trials for the Prix du Jockey Club, the Prix La Force at Longchamp and the Prix de Guiche at Chantilly. Sent off a short-priced favourite for the ‘French Derby’ as a result, Big Rock saw out the longer trip but had no answer to the stronger finish of Ace Impact who would go on to retire unbeaten as Timeform’s Champion of Europe after winning the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.

After the Prix du Jockey Club, Big Rock was dropped back to a mile but he found one too good again in his next couple of starts. After going with his usual zest in front he went down by a length and a quarter to Inspiral in the Prix Jacques le Marois at Deauville and was then collared in the closing stages by another filly, Sauterne, when looking as though he might hold on to make all in the Prix du Moulin at Longchamp. But when Big Rock did make the breakthrough at Group 1 level, he did so in spectacular fashion at Ascot.

Up against three Guineas winners – Chaldean, Paddington and Tahiyra – among his ten rivals, Big Rock left all of them toiling under an attacking ride from his regular jockey Aurelien Lemaitre. Clear at halfway, Big Rock kept on well to win unchallenged from Facteur Cheval who made it a French-trained one-two, the runner-up having also finished a place behind him in the Moulin. Facteur Cheval has already franked that form this season, beating an international field in last month’s Dubai Turf. Big Rock is all set to make his return in the Lockinge Stakes at Newbury next month and looks sure to take plenty of catching from the front again.

CONTINUOUS (125) Aidan O’Brien

Auguste Rodin and Paddington stole most of the headlines among Ballydoyle’s three-year-old colts last year but with the former making a disappointing return in Dubai and the latter now retired to stud, Continuous has the opportunity to raise his profile over middle distances this year. He won both his starts as a two-year-old, notably the Group 3 Prix Thomas Bryon at Saint-Cloud, but it wasn’t until the second half of his three-year-old season that he began to thrive.

After an encouraging third in the Dante on his reappearance, Continuous finished down the field in the Prix du Jockey Club but got back on track when finishing second to Derby runner-up King of Steel in the King Edward VII Stakes at Royal Ascot where he pulled clear of the remainder but was left behind by the winner. Three and a half lengths separated the two colts at Ascot, but they would the season on the same rating.

Next time out in the Great Voltigeur Stakes, Continuous showed improved form with a well-run race at a mile and a half showing him to good advantage. In fact, in winning readily from the Bahrain Trophy winner Castle Way and the Queen’s Vase winner Gregory who was ante-post favourite for the St Leger at the time, Continuous shaped as though he’d be every bit as effective over further. He duly proved as much in the St Leger next time when showing the best turn of foot under a confident ride from Ryan Moore and running out a comfortable winner by two and three quarter lengths from Arrest who’d shaded him for favouritism.

The Arc just fifteen days later was a stiffer task but, having been supplemented, Continuous ran at least well as ever, even if he didn’t have quite the same change of pace against top mile and a half performers when trying to pick his way through. Nonetheless, he pulled clear of the remainder in running on for fifth, just over three lengths behind Ace Impact. A son of the high-class Japanese horse Heart’s Cry, Continuous was being considered for the Japan Cup late in the year, though was ruled out by stiffness after a gallop.

Continuous could kick off his four-year-old campaign in the Mooresbridge Stakes at the Curragh on May 6 and holds a Coronation Cup at the end of next month too. A strong, rangy type, he should be set for a successful campaign in top middle-distance company.

INSPIRAL (125) John & Thady Gosden

Owners Cheveley Park Stud are in no hurry to retire their high-class daughter of Frankel to their Newmarket paddocks just yet. With earnings not far off £3 million, Inspiral has won nine of her thirteen starts over three seasons of racing and has won at the top level in each of those campaigns, including in the Fillies’ Mile at two and the Coronation Stakes and Prix Jacques le Marois at three. While her four-year-old season began with a couple of defeats, she ended it with a hat-trick of wins and looking at least as good as ever which has no doubt prompted her owners to keep her in training for another year.

For the second year running, Inspiral made her reappearance at Royal Ascot but this time was just outpointed by an unexposed rival with outsider Triple Time denying her by a neck. Heavy going at Goodwood for the Sussex Stakes provided the obvious excuse for Inspiral trailing home last of five behind Paddington and she bounced back on better ground just eleven days later to win the Jacques le Marois for the second time with a comfortable success from Big Rock.

Back against her own sex, Inspiral ran out an impressive winner of the Sun Chariot Stakes at Newmarket on her next start where she landed the odds by almost four lengths from the French filly Mqse de Sevigne who had herself won a couple of Group 1s at Deauville in August. While Inspiral’s three-year-old campaign had ended in defeat on softish ground in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, she missed that race this time in favour of the Breeders’ Cup and a first try over a mile and a quarter in the Filly And Mare Turf.

Taking on Aidan O’Brien’s three-year-old filly Warm Heart who was dropping down in trip after winning the Yorkshire Oaks and Prix Vermeille, the two fillies served up a superb finish in which Inspiral’s turn of foot under the firm conditions proved crucial after Warm Heart had got first run. Forced to switch wide early in the straight, Inspiral quickened to lead late on for a neck win under Frankie Dettori who has ridden her in all her starts to date bar her debut.

Perhaps that’s a partnership that will be renewed at some point later this year but in the short term she’s pencilled in to make her return in a potential rematch with Big Rock in the Lockinge. Connections will be hoping the ground at Newbury dries out before then, while her Breeders’ Cup victory opens up further opportunities over a mile and a quarter this year as well as at a mile.

KING OF STEEL (125) Roger Varian

King of Steel took his chance as a 66/1 shot in the Derby but his performance at Epsom in making a race of it with Auguste Rodin ensured he’d be entitled to a lot more respect in his subsequent races. After two runs at two for David Loughnane, including finishing only seventh of eight behind Auguste Rodin in the Futurity Trophy at Doncaster, King of Steel was having his first start at Epsom for Roger Varian though that hadn’t been the plan as he’d been withdrawn from the previous month’s Dante when playing up in the stalls.

In the circumstances therefore, his run in the Derby when briefly quickening clear before being collared late on to go down by half a length was full of promise. Up against three other Derby runners in the King Edward VII Stakes at Royal Ascot next time, King of Steel confirmed himself an exciting prospect with a clear-cut victory over subsequent St Leger winner Continuous and ensured that he’d have Group 1 targets again for the rest of the year, including three further encounters with Auguste Rodin.

Back at Ascot, King of Steel ran a much better race than the Derby winner when third to top-class older horses Hukum and Westover in the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes and then ran well on his first try at a mile and a quarter in the Irish Champion Stakes when only beaten a length into fourth behind a back-to-form Auguste Rodin. King of Steel’s Group 1 breakthrough came in the Champion Stakes at Ascot where he came from off the pace in a well-run race on softish ground.

With no Auguste Rodin to beat this time and the older horses not as formidable as they were in the King George, King of Steel won by three quarters of a length from the mare Via Sistina who has upheld that form in Australia this year. Just a fortnight later, King of Steel took on Auguste Rodin again in the Breeders’ Cup Turf where he was fifth but emerged with credit in a race that didn’t go his way after an awkward break and meeting some trouble in running.

By Wootton Bassett, King of Steel is a real powerhouse, big and good-bodied, and he looks very much the type to train on well from three to four, with his trainer confirming that he did ‘exceptionally well over the winter’. In a recent Sporting Life stable tour, Varian added that the Prince of Wales’s Stakes back at Ascot is King of Steel’s first main target with a run beforehand in either the Tattersalls Gold Cup or Brigadier Gerard Stakes next month.

KYPRIOS (128) Aidan O’Brien

After an interrupted season in 2023, high-class stayer Kyprios will be bidding to get back to the sort of dominance he enjoyed as a four-year-old when he went unbeaten in six races over a mile and three quarters or more. He had the former three-time Gold Cup winner Stradivarius back in third when winning at Royal Ascot and confirmed himself the new leader of the staying division when gamely denying the same rival what would have been a fifth victory in the Goodwood Cup by a neck.

Kyprios had to dig deep again when winning the Irish St Leger, again with less than a length to spare, but his final win of 2022 in a gruelling Prix du Cadran on soft ground at Longchamp was gained by twenty lengths despite hanging badly left through the final furlong, showing bottomless resources of stamina.

A similar programme was no doubt mapped out for Kyprios last year but a joint infection early in 2023 meant that he didn’t return to the track until the Irish St Leger again in September. He stayed on to finish second of four behind the previous season’s St Leger winner Eldar Eldarov and was a beaten favourite again in the Long Distance Cup at Ascot the following month when going down by a neck to Trawlerman after leading over two furlongs out but not quite being able to sustain his effort.

However, that effort suggests that he retains all his ability and that he’ll be a force again in the top staying contests this year given a clear run. Kyprios currently holds Yorkshire Cup and Coronation Cup entries, while races in Ireland like the Vintage Crop Stakes and Saval Beg Levmoss Stakes which he won before the 2022 Gold Cup are other possible options closer to home.

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