The Dewhurst Stakes runners for 2024 are starting to take shape ahead of Saturday’s big Group One at Newmarket on their Dubai Future Champions Day – with the unbeaten pair The Lion In Winter and Ancient Truth the big two in the market.
Will We See The Next 2000 Guineas Winner In Saturday’s Dewhurst Stakes?
In recent times (last 22 years) we’ve seen four Dewhurst Stakes winners go onto land the following season’s 2000 Guineas, with the most recent being Chaldean who won both races in 2022 and 2023.
Prior to Chaldean, we’ve seen Churchill (2016-17), Dawn Approach (2012-13) and the mighty Frankel (2010-11) take both races.
12 months ago, the classy Aidan O’Brien-trained City Of Troy won the Dewhurst Stakes and despite being sent off as the hot 2000 Guineas favourite this season, he flopped in the Newmarket race.
He, of course, bounced back in style to win the Epsom Derby and Juddmonte International Stakes, with the Breeders’ Cup Classic in early November his next engagement.
Therefore, Dewhurst Stakes, which is for 2 year-old colts only, is a race that horse racing fans get a glimpse of some of the potential stars of the future – including The Lion In Winter and Ancient Truth, who are currently heading the 2000 Guineas market for 2025 with the best horse racing betting sites in the UK.
Who Are The Dewhurst Stakes Runners In 2024?
The final Dewhurst Stakes runners 2024 will be out on Thursday 10th October and at this stage it looks like being a straight shootout between heavyweight trainers Aidan O’Brien and Charlie Appleby.
These two have ALL-bar-one of the eight entries, with only the Hugo Palmer-trained Seagulls Eleven a non-O’Brien/Appleby Dewhurst runner.
Of these, all eyes will be on the unbeaten two – The Lion In Winter (O’Brien) and Ancient Truth, while Appleby could also run his recent impressive Middle Park winner Shadow Of Light.
- Aftermath (A O’Brien)
- Ancient Truth (C Appleby)
- Camille Pissarro (A O’Brien)
- Expanded (A O’Brien)
- Rock Of Cashel (A O’Brien)
- Seagulls Eleven (H Palmer)
- Shadow Of Light (C Appleby)
- The Lion In Winter (A O’Brien)
The Lion In Winter
This Aidan O’Brien runner will head to Newmarket for the Dewhurst 2-from-2 after easy wins in at the Curragh and last time out in the Group 3 Acomb Stakes at York.
The form of that last win has since been franked with the runner-up Wimbledon Hawkeye winning the G2 Royal Lodge here at Newmarket and so it’s not hard to see why this Sea The Stars colt is also the current 2000 Guineas favourite with the best betting sites in the UK for the 2025 renewal.
Top jockey Ryan Moore is expected to take the ride too as the rider eyes his sixth Dewhurst Stakes win and will be hoping to follow-up last year’s success in the race with City Of Troy.
Ancient Truth
Trainer Charlie Appleby has won two of the last five Dewhurst Stakes and he’s got a strong hand of adding to that this Saturday.
Like The Lion In Winter, Ancient Truth is unbeaten too (3-from-3) and is also figuring high up the betting for the 2025 Guineas next season.
He was last seen winning the Superlative Stakes at Newmarket by 1 1/2 lengths – beating Seagulls Eleven that day, who could line-up again too (watch below).
The Appleby yard also boasts an impressive 35% strike-rate at Newmarket with their 2 year-olds, which is a lot better than O’Brien’s (15%).
Shadow Of Light
This Godolphin colt will head into Saturday’s Dewhurst Stakes as the top-rated horse in the field (119) and is also the only proven Group One winner after winning the Middle Park Stakes by an impressive 4 lengths last time out (watch below).
He’s now won three of his four starts, with his only blot coming when second in the Gimcrack Stakes at York back in August.
Shadow Of Light has done all his running so far over 6f, so will also be stepping up to 7f for the first time, but breeding suggests the extra furlong will be within range.
How Many Times Has Aidan O’Brien Won The Dewhurst Stakes?
Trainer Aidan O’Brien has many horse racing records spread around a lot of races and the Dewhurst Stakes is another.
The Ballydoyle handler has won this Group One eight times in the past (see his winners below) and is currently the joint-winning most trainer in the Dewhurst Stakes with Frank Butler and John Porter.
- Rock of Gibraltar (2001)
- Beethoven (2009)
- War Command (2013)
- Air Force Blue (2015)
- Churchill (2016)
- U S Navy Flag (2017)
- St Mark’s Basilica (2020)
- City of Troy (2023)
Dewhurst Stakes Trends: Key Newmarket Stats To Help Find The Winner
- 21/22 – Raced at least 3 times that season
- 19/21 – Placed last time out
- 19/21 – Never raced at Newmarket (Rowley)
- 17/22 – Placed favourites
- 17/22 – Won over 7f
- 16/22 – Won a Group race
- 16/22 – Won last time out
- 15/22 – Won at least 3 times
- 14/22 – Foaled in either Feb or March
- 13/22 – Ran at Goodwood (2), Longchamp (2) or the Curragh (9) last time out
- 12/22 – Won by an Irish-based stable
- 12/22 – Favourites
- 9/22 – Placed horses that came from stall 2
- 7/22 – Finished in the top 2 in the 2000 Guineas the following season (4 won both)
- 7/22 – Trained by Aidan O’Brien (8 wins in total)
- 6/22 – Returned 20/1 or bigger
- 3/22 – Godolphin-owned winners (3 of the last 12)
- 3/22 – Won the Epsom Derby the following season
- 2/22 – Trained by Charlie Appleby (2 of the last 5)
- 1/22 – Winners that came from stall 1
- The Irish have won 12 of the last 18 runnings
- 3 of the last 14 winners came from stall 3
- Aidan O’Brien has trained 6 of the last 11 winners
- Ryan Moore has won the race 5 times
- City Of Troy (8/15 fav) won the race in 2023
Dewhurst Stakes 2024 Race Details
📅Date: Saturday 12th October 2024
⌚Time: 3:00pm
🏇Racecourse: Newmarket
💰Winning Purse: £299,854
📺 TV: ITV / Racing TV
Dewhurst Stakes Winners (Last 10 Years)
- 2023 – City Of Troy
- 2022 – Chaldean
- 2021 – Native Trial
- 2020 – St Mark’s Basilica
- 2019 – Pinatubo
- 2018 – Too Darn Hot
- 2017 – US Navy Flag
- 2016 – Churchill
- 2015 – Air Force Blue
- 2014 – Belardo