John & Thady Gosden hold plenty of potential aces this season

The 2026 Flat season looks full of promise for in-form John & Thady Gosden who last week enjoyed a tremendous run of success during the Craven meeting at Newmarket and continued firing in some very promising winners at Newbury’s weekend Greenham fixture, writes Paul Alster.

In particular, the yard’s three-year-olds look an exciting bunch. Oxagon (pictured below), a talented juvenile who finished runner-up in last term’s Group 2 Champagne Stakes at Doncaster before finishing fifth in two successive Group 1s in the autumn, made every yard of the running to land the Group 3 Betway Craven Stakes, a key 2000 Guineas run over the course and distance of the upcoming first colts’ classic of the season scheduled for May 2nd.

The application of first-time cheekpieces had the desired effect as the son of Frankel maintained a strong gallop on the uphill run to the line to beat the Godolphin-owned pair of Avicenna (Roger Varian) and Hidden Force (Charlie Appleby) by two lengths and three-quarters-of-a-length. Now a general 12/1 shot to give the stable compensation for the narrow defeat of their subsequent Irish 2000 Guineas and St James’s Palace Stakes hero Field Of Gold in last year’s renewal of the 2000 Guineas, Oxagon looks sure to be thereabouts on the big day, but could there be one or two even better three-year-old prospects in the Gosden stable?

An hour prior to Oxagon’s fine win, his stable companion Portcullis (pictured above), bred by King Charles and owned by the King and Queen, made a stunning racecourse debut in the one mile Wood Ditton Maiden Stakes, a race restricted to unraced three-year-olds. This Frankel colt is out of a French 1000 Guineas winner so is bred to be good, but it all went wrong at the start as he was very green coming out of the stalls and took an age to get into stride, giving his nine rivals plenty of start. By halfway the royal runner had recovered the lost ground, and by the two furlong marker he had made headway to join the leaders. Once hitting the rising ground, Portculis took over and powered five-and-a-half lengths clear in the manner of a potentially useful horse.

As ever in the ‘Wood Ditton’ we don’t the strength of the horses he beat, but Portcullis could be a very exciting horse this term. John Gosden suggested he would be brought along steadily and probably tackle a novice race next under his winner’s penalty before looking at loftier targets.

A day before the Craven Stakes-Wood Ditton double at HQ, the Gosdens had sent out the improving 4yo Damysus to land the Group 3 Earl Of Sefton Stakes. He looks very progressive and could be up to tackling either the Group 1 Lockinge Stakes at Newbury next month, or potentially the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes or Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot in June. The yard saddled another three-year-old winner soon after Damysus when the Cheveley Park Stud’s So Regal (pictured above) – perfectly named being by Kingman out of Breeders’ Cup winner Queen’s Trust – took a step forward from finishing third on debut at Chelmsford last season, to win a mile fillies maiden in good style. There could be more to come from this likeable sort.

At Newbury on Friday the Gosden bandwagon rolled on as the exciting prospect I’m The One (pictured above) took apart a decent field in the 1m2f fillies maiden, striding clear in effortless fashion to score by six lengths from the once-raced Allaire. Jockey William Buick seemed impressed with the newcomer’s performance, suggesting she was “very good, and you couldn’t ask for more from a first start”. Thady Gosden said the Sea The Stars filly out of a Group 1 winner in Germany, will likely go for an Oaks trial next, prompting a rush of money for I’m The One. She is now the clear 7/2 favourite for the 1m4f classic at Epsom on June 5.

Another very impressive Gosden inmate this weekend was the Kingman colt Water To Wine (pictured above) who made a sparkling debut at Newbury in the 1m3f maiden. A big, rangy, well bred colt, the word was out that he might be more than useful and he was sent off evens favourite on his first racecourse appearance. Once Ryan Moore asked him to go win his race at the two furlong marker, Water To Wine lengthened in some style and came away to score by over four lengths from Richard Hannon’s Alderman and the Andrew Balding-trainer Turty Tree.

The winner is not entered in the Derby, a race that would almost certainly come too soon for him anyway, but John Gosden suggested that the King Edward VII Stakes at Royal Ascot a few weeks later might be a feasible target.

And finally, at Yarmouth on Tuesday, the Gosdens Brilliant Star, who runs in the Oppenheimer colours of the filly’s sire, Cracksman, beat four modest rivals by ten lengths at long odds-on in what appeared at first glance to be a run-of-the-mill middle-distance novice stakes. However, the daughter of Irish Oaks winner Star Catcher broke the track record so could be yet another potential rising star for the Clarehaven team that appear to have an embarrassment of riches this season in the three-year-old department.

Paul Alster has broadcast and reported on the British racing industry for four decades as a commentator, journalist, TV and radio presenter, betting correspondent, SP Returner, tipster and form analyst, among other things.