Sky Sports Racing’s Senior Form Analyst shortlists ten runners to add to your ATR Tracker for the coming campaign.
It’s that time of year in racing when pages, podcasts and platforms are flooded with horses to follow lists for the Flat, not that anybody is suggesting for a second that their considered collection should be blind backed in some brainless game of betting bingo. No, the spirit of the shortlist is more a community contribution for the season ahead.
Here is my contribution and, as usual, instead of rather randomly selecting ten horses, I’ve elected ten categories and assigned a horse to each, in the hope of an equitable and estimable list to spark some ideas.
Classic boy: Benevenuto Cellini
“His relaxed and fluent stride that of one who will be suited by 1¼m/1½m,” said Simon Rowlands in his Expert Analysis summary of the Group 1 Futurity, in which Benvenuto Cellini lost a battle in a bog, without weakening his chance of winning a Classic war.
Benvenuto Cellini is a strong Classic contender for Aidan O’Brien (Photo via Healy Racing)
He recorded the fastest split at Doncaster (12.18 sec in the third-last furlong), tying in with his electric performance in the Champions Juvenile Stakes that had Christophe Soumillon purring about the possibility of a Prix du Jockey Club, for which he’s 12-1, but his Derby destination is as likely to be Epsom, where his sister Giselle was third-favourite for the Oaks the last time we saw her.
Classic girl: Mubasimah
She’s 50-1 for the 1000 Guineas, which underestimates how much she did in so little time as a two-year-old, as well as her compatibility with Newmarket, where she’ll undoubtedly be heading for the Nell Gwyn on April 15. She may be a much shorter price for the Guineas after that, even in the world of Aidan’s glamour girls, who haven’t been cherry-ripe for Newmarket in the last few years.
Mubasimah is a filly of interest to Jamie Lynch
Less than a fortnight after her winning debut (at 11-1), Mubasimah was back at Newmarket for the Oh So Sharp and beat all bar the fully-formed favourite Calendar Girl, going down fighting, by a neck. She’s by Frankel out of a mare who wasn’t such an early riser but did get better over time.
Three-year-old sprint handicapper: Return Of The Gods
He’s out of Dutch Monument and by a son of Showcasing, which makes him a close relative of the in vogue Cool Hoof Luke, who’s rated 108 and still looking upwards, putting into perspective Return Of The Gods’ first mark of 77, on top of the firm foundations he laid last back-end. His youthful exuberance meant he was overly keen in his two races, both at Wolverhampton, but he still scrambled home in front latterly, his inefficiency hiding his true power and potential.
Ed Bethell, who brought up another half-century last year, has some of the best numbers of any trainer in handicap metrics, already having a Britannia on his CV. Return Of The Gods has the hallmarks of a ratings riser in 2026.
Three-year-old mile handicapper: Go Rimbaud
There was high promise in each of his three starts, the last two behind only Godolphin rockets, including Talk Of New York who’s still fairly high up the Guineas betting despite defeat in Dubai. His starting prices told a tale of high enough expectations, probably set higher still as a three-year-old, given his pedigree.
It is one the Gosdens have themselves helped to cultivate, as he’s by their crack miler Palace Pier and out of a half-sister to Friendly Soul – who won the Prix de l’Opera for the stable in 2024. With a mark of 82, he’s just the type to rock up at Sandown in April for the Esher Cup, which the Gosdens won last year with Fifth Column.
Three-year-old middle-distance handicapper: Joulany
He still needs another run to for a mark, but his pillars of potential are so towering that I’ve had to include him here, with an eye to middle-distance handicaps. He’s a brother by Sea The Stars to Al Aasy – the reason he cost as much as 800,000 guineas as a yearling. He also very much looks the part, and he went off odds-on for both his starts at two, though neither race got to the bottom of him.
A steady pace did for him at York and, before then, a sharpened Godolphin tool had too much for him at Kempton. With greater maturity and longer trips to exploit, Joulany should climb high in three-year-old handicaps for a trainer who excels with the type of horse he is.
Group graduate: Realign
As it has been for a few years, the door is wide open for an emerging talent on the sprint scene, and the bridge between handicapper and Group graduate isn’t so sizeable nor scary in this division. It is very possible that an up-and-comer like Realign can cross it.
He went off favourite for the Palace of Holyroodhouse at Royal Ascot but only showed why a few months later, once gelded, when he made short work of a strong 0-90 field at Haydock, a window into the future, more so than his sign-off in the mud, not for him. He has been a while coming but 2026 could be the time for Realign to justify the hype.
Could be anything colt: Raaheeb
The force is strong in his family – one of the finest in the book – giving us a King George winner in Hukum and the brilliant Baaeed; and Raaheeb is a full-brother to both of them. The means in his genes saw him go off favourite for his debut in a novice at Ascot, and he completed the task without hitting top gear, despite being “so sleepy” according to Jim Crowley, enhancing the excitement that inevitably comes from the power of his pedigree. He’s 25-1 for the Derby.
Could be anything filly: My Ophelia
The star signs were all there, from the price she cost to the price she went off, augmented by her performance, about as good as it gets for a debutante on heavy ground. William Haggas trained her relatives – My Prospero and My Oberon – with distinction, and there’s a high premium on such a pedigree – 1.7m guineas in her case.
While her starting price of evens reinforced her reputation, no whip needed to pass her first test with flying colours. There was something of an awesome air about her at Newbury, which is the reason she’s only 16-1 for the Oaks.
Stable switcher: Military Air
He may take some time to acclimatise, the way a lot of French imports do. However, he’s malleable and maybe magical material for the excellent David O’Meara, who has got plenty of ‘previous’ with recruits from across the Channel, Suedois and Mondialiste to name but two.
Ex-Juddmonte, and by Frankel, Military Air was placed at listed level at ParisLongchamp (third to Surabad) last spring, before fizzling out in the autumn. His mark of 95 is light on his peak let alone his one-time projection. It’s a matter of when and not if the O’Meara makeover takes effect.
Wildcard: Montezuma
A four-year-old maiden wouldn’t normally be on the hit list of horses to follow, hence Montezuma’s inclusion as a wildcard, but he’s got the makings of a Jim Goldie transformer this season.
After just two races as a juvenile for Godolphin, Montezuma cost 55,000 guineas to get him on the Goldie team but bubbled up rather than broke through in his first campaign for the yard, encompassing just six races, but there were repeated signs that a surge was indeed coming, beaten favourite on his last two starts.
When things click, sooner rather than later, he’ll really take off and run up a sprint sequence like so many from the stable before him.