Colts hoping to emulate fillies with Classic victories of their own

Following the exploits of Mawj and Pretty Mischievous, Godolphin’s three-year-old colts will be looking for significant wins over the coming weeks, with Military Order, First Mission and Flying Honours featuring among an exciting Classic crop.

Military Order booked his place in the G1 Derby early next month with an impressive display in Lingfield’s Derby Trial on Saturday. The Frankel colt will be aiming to mirror his full-brother Adayar, who also ran in the same Listed race before his success in the Epsom Downs Classic. Only five full-siblings have previously won the Derby, with the most recent pair Persimmon and Diamond Jubilee scoring in 1896 and 1900.

Eternal Hope captured the Oaks Trial on the same card and she too could head to Epsom Downs if the ground is suitably quick, although the Teofilo filly, who has yet to race on turf, would need to be supplemented for the G1 Oaks.

First Mission will line up in the G1 Preakness Stakes at Pimlico on Saturday. The Street Sense homebred shares a similar profile to Darley’s 2006 winner Bernardini, having scored at G3 level on his latest start and missed the Kentucky Derby in favour of the middle leg of the US Triple Crown.

Flying Honours will also be hoping to secure his Classic spot when he runs in one of the leading trials for the Derby, the G2 Dante Stakes at York this week, with Creative Force and Siskany set to run at the same meeting.

The older generation continue to rack up Stakes wins throughout the world, with talented sprinter Caramel Swirl annexing a second Graded success with a dominant display in Sunday’s G3 Vagrancy Stakes at Belmont Park.

In Australia, Character showed the level of form that saw him twice score at G2 level last year as he got up close home to win a Doomben Listed race, with Athelric and Ribchester filly Red Card also posting Listed wins at Scone.

Ribchester is the most recent of eight Godolphin winners in the G1 Lockinge Stakes. This year’s renewal of the Newbury highlight on Saturday could feature US Champion Modern Games and Tribalist, a son of 2013 Lockinge Stakes hero Farhh. Yibir is due to make his first appearance since July at the same fixture.