The William Hill Bill Turner Memorial EBF Brocklesby Stakes is the conventional opener for the British turf Flat season. Kitty Trice examines the pedigrees of the 4 likeliest contenders for the two-year-old contest.
4. Dance A Jig
A homebred for Jeff Smith's Littleton Stud, Dance A Jig comes from the first crop of Darley's Jubilee Stakes hero Naval Crown. The Ralph Beckett-trained juvenile is out of Strictly Dancing, a winner over six furlongs as a three-year-old and a Danehill Dancer child of Nunthorpe heroine Lochangel, in turn a half-sister to promote sprinter Lochsong.
Strictly Dancing has actually produced a variety of winners including Dancing Star, a winner of her second start at 2 and a Group 3 scorer as an older entertainer, plus Foxtrot Lady, herself a Pattern scorer at five. Those two fillies coincidentally landed the same race, the Sceptre Fillies' Stakes, for Andrew Balding.
3. Step To Glory
Dylan Cunha won this contest in 2024 with Zminiature and he saddles one of the bigger-priced runners in Step To Glory this time around.
Bred by Tally-Ho-Stud, the Cotai Glory colt has a lot of speed in his pedigree, running out a Kodiac half-sister to five-furlong Group 3 winner Hurricane Ivor. The household also includes fellow Group-winning sprinter Mirza, along with Millyant, whose success included the Prix du Gros-Chene and Molecomb Stakes.
2. Blixen Force
Amo Racing have actually won this contest in 2 of the last four years, including with Persian Force in 2022. The subsequent July Stakes winner now stands at Tally-Ho and is represented by his very first two-year-old runners this year, consisting of Blixen Force and fellow Amo-owned Ocean Club.
Blixen Force is the first foal out of Showcasing mare Baroness Blixen, a sis to Show Me Show Me, who was third in the Molecomb Stakes and won the Brocklesby in 2019. Baroness Blixen's own dam, Springing Baroness, is a half-sister to Toocoolforschool, a Group 2 winner as a juvenile when landing the Mill Reef Stakes.
1. Arrbob
The Richard and Peter Fahey-trained colt is by a tested source of skilled juveniles in Ardad, the sire of Middle Park Stakes and Prix Morny victor Perfect Power among others. He also has a lot of speed on his dam's side, being out of an Equiano sister to Hackwood Stakes winner and Haydock Sprint Cup runner-up Strath Burn.
Richard Fahey has actually won this race four times, most recently in 2019 with Show Me Show Me and Requinto Dawn in 2017, and this colt looks overpriced in a contest in which there is no racecourse kind to go on.
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