Robin Oakley

The horses to watch in 2024

James Doyle celebrates after riding Vandeek, ‘a pure ball of speed’, to victory in the Juddmonte Middle Park Stakes at Newmarket. Credit: Photo by Alan Crowhurst/Getty Images 
issue 07 October 2023

The definition of good luck in Russia is state security knocking at your front door and demanding ‘Ivan Denisovich?’ when you are able to reply ‘Ivan Denisovich lives two doors down.’ Sometimes you just have to be thankful it is someone else’s bad day. Steaming around the M25 on Saturday towards Newmarket’s Juddmonte-sponsored Cambridgeshire Handicap day, I suddenly noticed there was no traffic on the other side of the motorway. Soon I realised why: a huge overturned truck was blocking all three lanes. As I passed mile after mile of frustrated motorists, some leaning on their car bonnets for a smoke, I realised that if it had been on my side I would have been lucky to get to headquarters for the last race. Instead I knew my luck was in, and I would make it to one of my favourite fixtures with its three Group races for two-year-olds that start to reveal the potential champions of 2024.

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