After setting a personal best tally of winners and a new record prizemoney total in a calendar year in 2023, trainer Ralph Beckett has set the bar high for this campaign.
Despite the retirement of established Group race performers Angel Bleu, Lezoo, Prosperous Voyage and Westover, the Classic-winning handler has a team at his fingertips that look set to add further riches to those already on their respective CVs.
There were of course several near misses that Beckett had to endure, with arguably the greatest domestically the head defeat suffered by Westover in the King George and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot in July.
But while the odd head-bob here or there could have given Beckett more victories at the top level last year it was a campaign in which he yielded more than £4 million in prize money alongside training 133 winners, something he now hopes he can build on this term.
Beckett said: “If a few photos went the other way we would have had a few more Group Ones, which would have been nice, but that is the way the cookie crumbles a little bit, and you have to kind of accept that.
"We had 50 two-year-old winners, and we were surprised ourselves at getting that amount, as the type of two-year-olds we usually have there wouldn’t be too many running through May and June, so that was terrific to win with them. Hopefully some of them will come forward.
“We have lost Angel Bleu, Lezoo, Prosperous Voyage and Westoever, and they are big holes to fill. When you have 50 two-year-old winners, and the type of quality winner that there were, you hope something will come forward."
Artistic Star
“He started in the Gordon Richards Stakes on Friday. He has done very well from three to four. He was a very late foal as he was May 27 foal. We were always very conscious of that last year. I was happy we finished him after the Great Voltigeur, and then gelded him and left him alone. He worked well the other day. I think we will end up going back to a mile and a half fairly quickly.
"Jeff (Smith, owner) likes to dance every dance, so it would depend on what we felt at the time with him. I don’t think he is good enough for a Hardwicke Stakes, but he is a Group Three horse certainly in my opinion, and I have just got to prove that.”
Bluestocking
“She was unlucky in the Irish Oaks, but the race on Champions Day was perhaps the one result that might have been affected by running on the inner course.
“Poptronic got a terrific ride, and he kept pouring it on, but we just didn’t get on our bike quick enough, partly because of the draw, where she ended up getting shuffled back, and it was just one of those things, but hopefully it will happen for her this year.
“We could possibly start her off in the Middleton Stakes at York. if not she would go to the Pinnacle Stakes at Haydock. The Lancashire Oaks looks an obvious race, and Haydock is a track that will suit her very well. Those three races I will concentrate on.
“She ran very well in the Yorkshire Oaks last year on fast ground. She looks like she has retained her enthusiasm, but we will soon find out.
“She is still not a stakes winner which is ridiculous so it would be a relief for her to win at that level.”
Classical Song
“She has had a tough spring and we will try and get her ready for an Oaks trial. She is another quite late foal as she is a May 17th foal. She is a talented filly and in my opinion she will get a mile and a half. We were running out of options a little bit at the end of last season, and I think it was a very good Fillies’ Mile that she ran in. I don’t regret running her in it as it was done with this year in mind rather than anything else.”
King’s Gamble
“He is a talented horse, but he has had issues. It will come for him, but just not straight away. He will have entries in races like the St James’s Palace Stakes. He is a good horse, but we have just got to get him on the road. It has been difficult because of his size as he is an enormous horse. His work before Newmarket on his debut was good.
"We knew he had been showing up well, and that there was an engine there. In the Gimcrack he was drawn on the wing and all the action was to his right. I’m not saying he would have won, but I think he would have been closer had he been in amongst the action. Danny (Tudhope) was trying to teach on him on the job, and get him to run well at the same time, and that is not always easy. I think he will be a miler, but he might turn out to be a seven furlong horse.”
Feigning Madness
“He was always a free sweater at home at two. We went to Newbury first time and I told Hector (Crouch) to ride him cold and just get him to run through the line, but he ended up winning. At Newmarket he rode him the same way, but it took him a while to work out what he was doing then he flew home.
"I thought Epsom would suit him quite well and his owner would love to have a runner in the Derby. By running at Epsom it gives us enough time to run somewhere else if we want to go that route.”
Forest Fairy
“The plan is to go for the Cheshire Oaks. I’ve been told she did a good time at Wolverhampton and the form has worked out from it. She is pretty light on her feet so Chester will suit her. I did think about running her in a novice event at Newbury last weekend, but I changed my mind as she is pretty streetwise.
"She has looked less green than I thought she would be in her work on the grass so I have no qualms going from a Wolverhampton maiden to the Cheshire Oaks. I’m looking forward to running her."
Forever Blue
“The Prestige Stakes form has worked out well and she has a rating of 95 so that gives us options as to where we go. The Michael Seely at York could be a race for her as she is working well.
“I think she will get a mile and a quarter eventually. Although she is by Blue Point she is from a staying family.
“I thought in the Prestige Stakes she just didn’t know enough in retrospect. It was almost like a racecourse gallop when she won on debut, but I felt she was a bit all at sea on the undulations at Goodwood, then they switched sides because of the ground.
“I don’t think she got to grips with what was required that day. She is a tough filly, but she has had a tough spring and she has not quite come forward as I would have liked.”
Glimpsed
“She is tiny as she is a June foal, and not many June foals win at two. She shows a great attitude to the job, but she looks like a pony. She will have her day in the sun somewhere due to her attitude towards the game, but I’ve got to place her right as it is not going to be straightforward. The Eternal Stakes at Carlisle, and races like that, will be for her. We can feel the way through the year with her.”
Indelible
“She is in much the same place as Forever Blue. I wanted to run her in the Fred Darling, but I ran out of time. She is a filly that could go for the Conqueror Stakes at Goodwood. She is in very good terms with herself. That race would fit well, and she would learn plenty there.
“That race is against older fillies, but I wouldn’t worry about that. It could be a good spot to start. She was second on her debut then she won a maiden at Lingfield and the form has worked out quite well. She has got good solid form. She will have all the nice entries and we will see how it pans out.”
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Kinross
“He will go the same route this season. He will go to Ascot for the Queen Elizabth II Jubilee Stakes, then we will work away, and try to mix and match it with ground.
“If it came up quick in the July Cup we might go to the Prix Maurice de Gheest that sort of thing. He will go for the Lennox Stakes for sure, and the City Of York Stakes. He will do all of those, and we will try and keep him on the road all year again.
“Whether he has quite got the speed in his legs at seven, who knows, but there is only one way to really find out. He still shows plenty of enthusiasm, and he loves it. Everyday is the best day of his life. He has been a superstar for the yard, and I’m hugely proud of him. It has been a pleasure to train him every year. I’m sure there will be another nice race in him.”
La Pasionaria
“She beat the colts at Salisbury which was a good effort first time out. She had to tough that out, but she got knocked over, and rolled around, however she still stuck her head out. She is a very genuine filly that puts it all in.
“I’d like to run her in an Oaks trial, but wherever she ends up she will do the job as she has got a great attitude. I think she will get a mile and a half as well. She moves like she wants soft ground as she hits the ground hard so she will always want a big of dig in the ground I suspect.”
Lady Boba
“The Rothesay Stakes at Ayr will probably be for her. She might be one for a Lancashire Oaks as well later in the season, but she might also be one for America and that programme in New York with her owner being New York based. We might look at something like the E.P. Taylor Stakes later on.
“She looks like a pull through for a rifle, but she is hardy, and will take travelling well. She was a filly we never really got to train properly last year. She won her maiden at Ffos Las very easily and then was not right afterwards.
“I had to wait and ended up running her in a fillies handicap at Newmarket where she didn’t get on her bike quick enough that day. She won very easily in a Listed race in France, but what she beat is debatable. I don’t think she is ground dependent as it was quick at Newmarket and soft in France so that gives us a bit of help.”
Macduff
“I was very pleased with his run at Sandown. The Derby has not been ruled out. If he runs in the race he would go straight there with the possibility of a racecourse gallop beforehand.
“His work before the race was good, but he will come on for this run. He has really changed shape. He was a horse that was slightly in two halves at two, but now he looks like the finished article. He was a bit green when he was beaten in the Listed race at Haydock Park, and he went left then straightened up in the Royal Lodge. I think he learnt plenty at two.
“He has a great pedigree as he is out of a sister to Kingman, but he has all that Sea The Stars aspect that he tends to put into all of his stock. They are very professional, and he is the same. He is a horse that is very easy to read as he is exactly what it says on the tin. I’m not sure he is ground dependent. He has got a bit of a round action, but most Sea The Stars like fast ground.”
Meribella
“She is a talented filly that needs fast ground. She is quite laid back, and I want to run her in a Oaks trial. I had in mind the Pretty Polly Stakes at Newmarket.
“She has taken a while to come to hand so she might not be ready for that, but she will be ready for something. She goes well, and won well on her only start last season at Newmarket, so I would like to think she will win her fair share of races this season.”
Mortlake
“He has been gelded, but I don’t really know where I am with him yet. He has definitely benefited from being gelded. He is a really attractive horse that is good moving. I felt he slightly lost his bottle in the Solario Stakes having won really well at Leicester.
“He slightly melted beforehand at Sandown, but gelding him will put that straight. It did catch me by surprise that he did that.
“He will have forgotten about Sandown Park with a bit of luck and once we start working him we will work out where he goes. I think he will want a mile and a quarter. I think a Britannia Stakes at Royal Ascot will be too sharp for him, but we will see.
Nothing To Sea
“His knees have always been his problem. He is a talented horse and I hope it would end up in an Ebor, or something along those lines, as York would really suit him as he travels really well. We will work our way through as he is a long way off a run yet. I’d say we probably won’t see him until June time."
Poniros
“I think he could be one for the King George V Stakes at Royal Ascot. A mile and a quarter was very much on the sharp side for him on his comeback around Windsor.
“He would have learned plenty the other day and I was pleased with the way he came out of the race. He could run in the London Gold Cup at Newbury on route to Royal Ascot. I will work back from Royal Ascot and Kia (Joorabchian, owner) is keen to have runners in every race there. He is a Golden Horn out of a Lope De Vega mare so he will get a mile and a half well.”
Remarquee
“She will go to the Chartwell Stakes at Lingfield, then glide into the Duke Of Cambridge Stakes at Royal Ascot as that is the obvious race for her.
“You would then be looking at races like the Falmouth Stakes and maybe the Nassau Stakes, later on. She is out of a Champs Elysees mare, and her racing style suggests we might try a mile and a quarter at some point, but that remains to be seen.
“She has had a wind operation, and that should help her, as she always carried her head quite high. It transpired after the Rothschild that she needed a wind operation, so she should be better this year."
River Of Stars
“She is back for more. The Bronte Stakes at York, which she won last year, would be an obvious place to go back to now that her penalty has run out.
“I would be quite keen to take on the colts again at some point as she is a tough filly. Physically I think she has done well from three to four as she always looked a bit weak through her neck last year, and was not quite the finished article.
“We will see how she trains in the meantime, but she is not ground dependent. It is a question of me putting her in the right spot. The Lillie Langtry would be an obvious place for her later on as she ran very well in it last year. I would be willing, now she is older, and a bit more the finished article, to experiment with her trip wise.”
Salt Bay
“He might be one for the Aston Park at Newbury next month. He has been difficult to keep sound, but if he is to have a year this will be his year if I can get him into a rhythm.
“I was really pleased with him in the John Porter as he came out of the race really well, perhaps better than I envisaged. It was a pretty good renewal of the John Porter, and the first two home are very good yardsticks. He hasn’t got many miles on the clock, but that is for a reason. He was a very heavy horse as a colt, but he looks much more like a staying horse now.”
Seaward
“She has done well from two to three. She is a small, neat filly that hasn’t grown much, but she has filled her frame. She could start in the Pretty Polly at Newmarket, but that might come too soon for her or she could go to Chester..
“The Fillies’ Mile was too much for her last year. She absolutely hosed up in an Ascot maiden that’s why we decided to have a go. I hope she is a stakes class filly. I’m hopeful rather than confident as the Ascot form hasn’t really worked out.”
Serried Ranks
“On soft ground over five, or six furlongs, he will pay his way. It is not going to be easy with him, but he is a decent horse. He is a tough lad. The Palace Of Holyroodhouse House Stakes at Royal Ascot is something that could be for him if conditions are right.”
Skellet
“She has been slow to come to hand and won’t make the 1000 Guineas, but she is big filly now. She is tall, and has grown over the winter, and has done really well.
“We are not going to make the 1000 Guineas, but we might make the last weekend in May for the Curragh and the Irish 1000 Guineas. I’ve not really worked out yet what we are going to do. It might be that she makes the Michael Seely (Memorial Stakes) at York. We have options, and we will see how it pans out.
“I’m half thinking of the Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot for her. She missed the break at Newmarket, but she was in front a long way out. She sort of run it slightly the wrong way around. She learnt plenty that day though and is a good filly.”
Starlust
“All being well the plan is to go for the Pavillion Stakes then to the Commonwealth Cup. I might try seven furlongs with him at some point as he is a very laid back horse. He is very easy to deal with and you could do anything with him.
“He seems to handle everything as he was a good second in a Goodwood nursery on soft ground yet he was also second in a Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Sprint. He worked very well with Task Force at Newbury on Monday.
“He might be a horse to take to Australia later in the year for one of those valuable races. His management team are very keen for him to go over there and try it because he is so straightforward.”
Stop The Cavalry
“I had her in mind for the German 1000 Guineas and that is still a possibility. She is just a little behind, like some of the others, and she hasn’t done any fast work yet, but we are getting there. I ran her in the Bosra Sham Stakes at Newmarket on her second start because she was a little keen when she won at Haydock and I didn’t want to step her up to a mile in the Montrose and have her on her bike. I thought we might get it done in the Bosra Sham.
“She is a talented filly, and she is bred to get a mile and a quarter, but she shouldn’t be able to do what she did at six furlongs so that was a bonus.”
Task Force
“He worked over six furlongs with Starlust, who is a talented horse in his own right, at Newbury on Monday and that work went well. He will probably work early in the week, and all being well he will then head to Newmarket for the 2000 Guineas. I think he has got to go anyway. Having won the Listed race at Ripon we ran in the Middle Park with the 2000 Guineas in mind.
“I wasn’t keen on going to the Dewhurst because he was a very exuberant two year old. I was concerned he would get on his bike too soon in the Dewhurst, whereas we knew in the Middle Park that wasn’t going to happen that is for sure.
“He learnt plenty that day as went left in the dip, then he puts his head down and runs straight through the line. He is not a slow learner, it is just a question whether he is good enough, and there is only one way we can find out. After that we will work it out from there.
“Maybe he is an Irish 2000 Guineas horse, maybe he is a St James’s Palace Stakes horse. A stiff mile around a bend will really suit him. He has grown up a lot and we are looking forward to the 2000 Guineas."
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“She has come a long way and I think she will probably go to the Oaks trial at Lingfield. I think Lingfield will suit her well. It took a long time for her to learn her job last time, but I think she will have plenty of time to get into it at Lingfield and work out what is required.
“She is a very straightforward filly. I think the real surprise with her was from her first piece of work to her maiden win. She has proper pedigree and she is bred to be a good filly. Going back through the family there is plenty to suggest she has got it in her.”
Valvano
“All being well he will go to the Dante Stakes at York. He is an extraordinary horse as he was backwards last spring so we sent him away, and he did one piece of work.
“I argued with myself long and hard whether to run him, and he glided around the inner track at Nottingham. He is obviously very useful and the Dante will tell us what to do next.
“I think the Dante will really suit him and I think he is all over a mile and a half horse. To be second in what used to be the Easter Stakes at Kempton Park was a really good effort as that mile trip that would be short enough for him.”
Verbier
“She is a good filly, but I’ve got to prove it. She has been a bit behind this spring, but I think she will take her racing better now that she is older. It is good to have her back for another year.
“It was a shame she didn’t quite get some black type on her final run last year at Lingfield, but it proved that it was worth keeping her in training.
“She is rated 95 now, but I’ve not really got there yet with regards to plans as she is a bit behind. I’d hope we will get some black type before then but a race like the Upavon (Fillies’ Stakes) at Salisbury is written for a filly like her. It would be a good option later in the summer for her, or the Lyric Stakes at York.”
Where I Wanna Be
“She has been going well and we will try and fit a trial in somewhere as she will get a mile and a half. She is quite a robust filly. Those Camelot fillies can be light, and lean, but she is not that at all. She is more in the masculine mould, and I think she will take her racing really well.
“I was really pleased with her at Nottingham as she really outbattled the second horse that day. It is difficult to say where she sits with the other fillies as I didn’t really rate her and then she ran better at Kempton than I expected.
“She was a bit awkward, but she had that first run and the whole world changed. I then thought she would win at Nottingham.”
You Got To Me
“She moves like fast ground will be no problem for her. She got a bit lost in the Montrose, but finished well. She will probably go to Lingfield for the Oaks trial there and that would be the most likely option at this stage.”
Zoum Zoum
“He is brilliant to train as he does everything the same way every day. In all likelihood we will now work back from the Jersey Stakes at Royal Ascot.
“He can’t go in the Commonwealth Cup because he is a gelding, but the Jersey Stakes would seem like a good spot for him. His mother wanted slow ground, but at some point I’m going to have to run him on faster ground.
“If you looked back at his Kempton run he didn’t move like a slow ground horse, but Zoustar seems to throw horses that will handle anything."
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