Ger Lyons’ unbeaten Babouche is favourite to pull off a rare Group One double in Saturday’s Juddmonte Cheveley Park Stakes at Newmarket.
Babouche made it three out of three in her career to date with an impressive success against colts in last month’s Phoenix Stakes at the Curragh.
The daughter of Kodiac proved too good for Whistlejacket on that occasion and the latter quickly boosted the form with a subsequent Prix Morny victory at Deauville.
Both are set to line up in top company at Newmarket this weekend with Whistlejacket heading betting lists for the Middle Park Stakes on Britain’s first top-flight programme for juveniles this season.
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It has been Irish dominance in the top two-year-old division so far with Joseph O’Brien’s Scorthy Champ successful in the National Stakes over the Irish Champions Festival where Lake Victoria landed the Moyglare.
Lake Victoria, also unbeaten in three starts, is set to attempt a quick follow up by dropping a furlong in distance and taking on Babouche in a potentially mouth-watering clash for the Cheveley Park.
It follows confirmation that her highly-regarded stable companion Fairy Godmother, winner of Royal Ascot’s Albany in June, won’t line up.
“Fairy Godmother is finished for the season, we just decided to leave her off for the rest of the year,” Aidan O’Brien explained.
“As for Lake Victoria, we were thinking we might bring her back to six furlongs for this going to the Moyglare.”
Bookmakers reckon the edge for this Saturday’s race lies with the Lyons runner and Babouche is a general 13/8 favourite to pull off a Phoenix-Cheveley Park double last achieved by Minstrella in 1986.
Lyons famously opened his career Group One account in the Cheveley Park 13 years ago as the Johnny Murtagh-ridden Lightening Pearl emerged on top.
O’Brien has a record fifth Cheveley Park firmly in his sights however and has five of the 14 entries left in the six-furlong highlight after Monday’s latest acceptance stage.
Truly Enchanting, a Group Two winner at the Curragh in June, is in the mix to line up and could be joined too by Bubbling, unlucky in Leopardstown’s Ingabelle Stakes on her previous start.
A pair of French-trained fillies, Daylight and the supplemented Rayevka, remain in the Cheveley Park. The last French-trained winner was Vorda in 2013.
There has been Irish dominance in the last decade with six winners from this country including last year’s heroine, Porta Fortuna. Donnacha O’Brien’s star has progressed in 2024 to record a hat-trick of top-flight successes including the Matron Stakes at the Irish Champions Festival.
O’Brien already holds a record seven Middle Park wins and has left four others in alongside Whistlejacket. They are topped by Ides of March who impressed in a Curragh Group Three last time. Henri Matisse, beaten by Scorthy Champ in the National, is also a possible starter.
Michael O’Callaghan will try to get back on the winning trail with Black Forza after a tilt at a valuable pot in Kentucky Downs earlier this month ended in frustration. Goodwood’s Richmond Stakes winner lost his chance with a slow start and could manage only fourth.
The Wathnan operation have supplemented Defence Minister into the Middle Park despite holding a Group Three entry earlier in the week.
“With all the rain and a very changeable forecast we want to have a range of possible targets for Defence Minister. He’s a very promising colt but we know he wants decent ground, so we are keeping all our options open at this stage,” said a spokesman.
Also among the dozen left in the Middle Park is Godolphin’s Gimcrack runner up Shadow Of Light.
One big name absent from the weekend action will be triple-champion jockey Silvestre De Sousa who has been handed a 24 day ban – eight of them suspended – for multiple breaches of Britain’s whip rules.
The Brazilian, champion in 2025, 2017 and 2018, was referred to the British Horseracing Authority’s whip review committee over his use of the whip when runner up on Big Mojo in Doncaster’s Flying Childers Stakes earlier this month.
De Sousa exceeded the permitted level of strikes, and it was fifth rule breach in six months.
