Futurity Trophy

The Group 1 Vertem Futurity Trophy at Doncaster is a recognised Classic trial for two-year-olds (formerly known as The Racing Trophy).

The Futurity Trophy takes place on Friday 27th October 2023.

It is the final Group 1 race of the flat turf season and often provides clues for the 2000 Guineas and Epsom Derby.

Classic winners to win here include Reference Point (1986), High Chaparral (2001) and Camelot (2011).

The last three winners all went on to win the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket on their next racecourse appearance.

The Race – The Vertem Futurity Trophy

The Futurity Trophy takes place over a mile in October and often on soft ground.

Doncaster racecourse is one of the flattest tracks in the country but still provides a tough test for two-year-olds.

The long home straight puts the emphasis firmly on stamina in this race, particularly when conditions are testing.

Famous Futurity Trophy and Racing Post Winners & History

The race was created by Phil Bull in 1961 and was originally called the Timeform Gold Cup. The sponsorship has changed several times since but it was probably best known as the Racing Post Trophy (1989 to 2017).

Vertem became the latest sponsor in 2018.

Notable early winners of this race include Ribocco (1966), Vaguely Noble (1967) and High Top (1971).

In 1980 Shergar started hot favourite for this race but suffered a rare defeat behind Beldale Flutter. He redeemed his reputation as a three-year-old with a record 10 lengths victory in the Epsom Derby.

1986 Futurity winner Reference Point also went on to win the Derby but the next Classic winner produced here was Celtic Swing in 1994. He had won his previous race by 8 lengths at Ascot but few expected him to rout the opposition in this Group 1 contest. He powered 12 lengths clear in the home straight to leap to the head of the ante-post betting for the Derby. He was beaten in the 2000 Guineas and re-routed to the French Derby where he gained a hard-fought Classic victory.

High Chaparral (2001) and Motivator (2004) both went on to win the Epsom Derby.

The race was run at Newbury in 2006 while Doncaster was redeveloped and victory went to 25-1 outsider Authorized. He was quoted at 16-1 for the Derby immediately after the Futurity. An impressive win in the Dante Stakes at York resulted in him starting 5-4 favourite at Epsom. Frankie Dettori was seeking his first Derby win at the fifteenth attempt and the combination won easily by five lengths.

Camelot won here in 2011 and almost emulated English Triple Crown winner Nijinsky. He won the 2000 Guineas and the Derby but his Triple Crown bid was thwarted by Encke in the St Leger.

Brian Boru (2002) and Kingston Hill (2013) both won the Futurity and St Leger at Doncaster.

Having become established as the top trial for staying colts, the Futurity has now produced three successive 2000 Guineas winners in Saxon Warrior (2017), Magna Grecia (2018) and Kameko (2019).

The 2019 renewal was re-arranged to Newcastle after Doncaster was abandoned due to waterlogging.

Key Futurity Trophy Trials

The Autumn Stakes at Newmarket has proved a good guide to the Futurity Stakes in recent years. Ibn Khaldun (2007) and Kingston Hill (2013) both won that race before following up at Doncaster. Magna Grecia finished second in the Autumn Stakes before winning here in 2018.

The Group 2 Beresford Stakes at Naas is another significant trial with St Nicholas Abbey (2009), Casamento (2010) and Saxon Warrior (2017) all winning both races.

Andrew Balding won the Royal Lodge Stakes at Newmarket with Elm Park (2014) before winning here. He followed the same path with Kameko (2019), second in the Royal Lodge before winning the Futurity.

Futurity Trophy 2023 Odds

The odds for the Futurity Trophy are listed below:

Vertem Futurity Trophy Stakes Date: Saturday 22nd of October 2022 Time: 15:35 Details: 10 Runners
Auguste Rodin	5/4
Arrest	5/1
Epictetus	13/2
Proud And Regal	8/1
Victoria Road	12/1
Salt Lake City	16/1
King Of Steel	20/1
Dubai Mile	25/1
Hiawatha	33/1
Dancing Magic	50/1

Futurity Trophy 2023 Tips

The tips for the Futurity Trophy are below:

2 points to win for TBC at odds of TBC
1 point each way for TBC at odds of TBC

Futurity Trophy Previous Winners

Year	Winner	Jockey	Trainer	Owner	Time
1961	Miralgo	Bill Williamson	Harry Wragg	Gerry Oldham	1:44.40
1962	Noblesse	Garnie Bougoure	Paddy Prendergast	Evelyn Olin	1:39.00
1963	Pushful [a]	Harry Carr	S. Meaney	Lionel Holliday	1:39.00
1964	Hardicanute	Bill Williamson	Paddy Prendergast	Jim Mullion	1:40.40
1965	Pretendre	Ron Hutchinson	Jack Jarvis	Claude Lilley	1:42.60
1966	Ribocco	Lester Piggott	Fulke Johnson Houghton	Charles Engelhard	1:44.60
1967	Vaguely Noble	Bill Williamson	Walter Wharton	Brook Holliday	1:44.80
1968	The Elk	Bill Pyers	Jeremy Tree	Monica Sheriffe	1:44.60
1969	Approval	Duncan Keith	Henry Cecil	Sir Humphrey de Trafford	1:45.80
1970	Linden Tree	Duncan Keith	Peter Walwyn	Mrs D. McCalmont	1:46.00
1971	High Top	Willie Carson	Bernard van Cutsem	Sir Jules Thorn	1:40.80
1972	Noble Decree	Lester Piggott	Bernard van Cutsem	Nelson Bunker Hunt	1:42.79
1973	Apalachee	Lester Piggott	Vincent O'Brien	Jack Mulcahy	1:43.51
1974	Green Dancer	Freddy Head	Alec Head	Jacques Wertheimer	1:45.01
1975	Take Your Place	Gianfranco Dettori	Henry Cecil	Carlo d'Alessio	1:40.50
1976	Sporting Yankee	Pat Eddery	Peter Walwyn	William Hill Racing	1:48.56
1977	Dactylographer	Pat Eddery	Peter Walwyn	Philip Niarchos	1:43.70
1978	Sandy Creek	Christy Roche	Con Collins	Alfie McLean	1:38.32
1979	Hello Gorgeous	Joe Mercer	Henry Cecil	Daniel Wildenstein	1:42.30
1980	Beldale Flutter	Pat Eddery	Michael Jarvis	Tony Kelly	1:43.53
1981	Count Pahlen	Geoff Baxter	Bruce Hobbs	Mrs Tony Villar	1:42.40
1982	Dunbeath	Lester Piggott	Henry Cecil	Michael Riordan	1:44.05
1983	Alphabatim	Greville Starkey	Guy Harwood	Khalid Abdullah	1:41.30
1984	Lanfranco	Lester Piggott	Henry Cecil	Charles St George	1:43.90
1985	Bakharoff	Greville Starkey	Guy Harwood	Khalid Abdullah	1:41.20
1986	Reference Point	Pat Eddery	Henry Cecil	Louis Freedman	1:45.03
1987	Emmson	Willie Carson	Dick Hern	Sir Michael Sobell	1:42.66
1988	Al Hareb	Willie Carson	Neil Graham	Hamdan Al Maktoum	1:40.73
1989	Be My Chief [b]	Steve Cauthen	Henry Cecil	Peter Burrell	1:42.99
1990	Peter Davies	Steve Cauthen	Henry Cecil	Charles St George	1:46.00
1991	Seattle Rhyme	Cash Asmussen	David Elsworth	H. J. Senn	1:39.58
1992	Armiger	Pat Eddery	Henry Cecil	Khalid Abdullah	1:39.70
1993	King's Theatre	Willie Ryan	Henry Cecil	Poland / Sheikh Moh'd [2]	1:41.04
1994	Celtic Swing	Kevin Darley	Lady Herries	Peter Savill	1:40.04
1995	Beauchamp King	John Reid	John Dunlop	Erik Penser	1:38.89
1996	Medaaly	Gary Hind	Saeed bin Suroor	Godolphin	1:41.12
1997	Saratoga Springs	Michael Kinane	Aidan O'Brien	Michael Tabor	1:40.36
1998	Commander Collins	Jimmy Fortune	Peter Chapple-Hyam	Robert Sangster	1:47.80
1999	Aristotle	George Duffield	Aidan O'Brien	Sue Magnier	1:45.00
2000	Dilshaan	Johnny Murtagh	Sir Michael Stoute	Saeed Suhail	1:45.87
2001	High Chaparral	Kevin Darley	Aidan O'Brien	Tabor / Magnier	1:45.39
2002	Brian Boru	Kevin Darley	Aidan O'Brien	Sue Magnier	1:46.01
2003	American Post	Christophe Soumillon	Criquette Head-Maarek	Khalid Abdullah	1:39.57
2004	Motivator	Kieren Fallon	Michael Bell	Royal Ascot Racing Club	1:41.62
2005	Palace Episode	Neil Callan	Kevin Ryan	Theresa Marnane	1:45.10
2006	Authorized [c]	Frankie Dettori	Peter Chapple-Hyam	Al Homaizi / Al Sagar	1:43.74
2007	Ibn Khaldun	Kerrin McEvoy	Saeed bin Suroor	Godolphin	1:37.62
2008	Crowded House	Jamie Spencer	Brian Meehan	Reddam / Burrell / Harvey	1:39.17
2009	St Nicholas Abbey	Johnny Murtagh	Aidan O'Brien	Smith / Magnier / Tabor	1:39.62
2010	Casamento	Frankie Dettori	Michael Halford	Sheikh Mohammed	1:37.03
2011	Camelot	Joseph O'Brien	Aidan O'Brien	Smith / Magnier / Tabor	1:38.58
2012	Kingsbarns	Joseph O'Brien	Aidan O'Brien	Magnier / Tabor / Smith	1:40.32
2013	Kingston Hill	Andrea Atzeni	Roger Varian	Paul D Smith	1:44.83
2014	Elm Park	Andrea Atzeni	Andrew Balding	Qatar Racing & Kingsclere Racing	1:43.82
2015	Marcel	Andrea Atzeni	Peter Chapple-Hyam	Paul Hancock	1:40.85
2016	Rivet	Andrea Atzeni	William Haggas	The Starship Partnership	1:37.08
2017	Saxon Warrior	Ryan Moore	Aidan O'Brien	Smith / Magnier / Tabor	1:40.12
2018	Magna Grecia	Donnacha O'Brien	Aidan O'Brien	Smith / Magnier / Tabor / Flaxman	1:37.72
2019	Kameko[d]	Oisin Murphy	Andrew Balding	Qatar Racing Ltd	1:36.26
2020	Mac Swiney	Kevin Manning	Jim Bolger	Jackie Bolger	1:41.98
2021	Luxembourg	Ryan Moore	Aidan O'Brien	Smith / Magnier / Tabor / Westerberg	1:43.61
2022	Auguste Rodin	Ryan Moore	Aidan O'Brien	Tabor / Smith / Magnier / Westerberg	1:44:76

Futurity Trophy Previous Result

🏆Futurity Trophy Stakes (G1)
1600m , 200.000 GBP, for 2yo
🇬🇧 Doncaster

Auguste Rodin (IRE)
(2C Deep Impact – Rhododendron , by Galileo)
J : Ryan Moore
T:A.P. O'Brien
O: M Tabor & D Smith & Mrs J Magnier & Westerberg
B : @coolmorestud pic.twitter.com/9bZASEt8N1

— 𝙒𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙𝙍𝙖𝙘𝙞𝙣𝙜 (@WorldRacing1) October 22, 2022

Futurity Trophy Betting Trends

Favourites have a fine record in the Futurity Stakes, winning seven of the last ten renewals.

Casamento (2010), Camelot (2011), Kingsbarns (2012), Kingston Hill (2013) and Elm Park (2014) all started clear market leader. The sequence came to an abrupt halt with 33-1 outsider Mercel in 2015, trained by Peter Chapple-Hyam.

Shock results are few and far between in this top two-year-old race where the betting usually provides a reliable guide.

Saxon Warrior (2017) and Magna Grecia (2018) were heavily-backed favourites with Kameko returning at odds of 11-2 in 2019.

Futurity Trophy Stats

Most recent Futurity winners had won on their previous start.
There are not many opportunities for two-year-olds over a mile but a high percentage of past winners had already tackled the Classic distance.
This is a tough test for an inexperienced juvenile and most winners had raced at least twice, often including a Group race.
Half of recent winners had at least one victory in a Group 1 to 3 race.
An official rating of 98 or higher is usually required to win this race.

Top Trainers and Jockeys

Sir Henry Cecil recorded an astonishing 10 winners in this race between 1969 and 1993. Only Reference Point (1986) went on to Classic success as a three-year-old. His last victory came with Kings Theatre in 1993, runner-up in the English Derby to Erhaab and the Irish Derby behind Balanchine.

Aidan O’Brien is rapidly closing in on Sir Henry’s record, Magna Grecia providing him with a ninth winner in 2018. That colt went on to become the fifth O’Brien-trained Futurity winner to enjoy Classic success following Camelot, High Chaparral, Brian Boru and Saxon Warrior. His other winners include the globetrotting St Nicholas Abbey (2009), a three-time winner of the Coronation Cup and the winner of the 2011 Breeders’ Cup Turf.

Jockeys Lester Piggott and Pat Eddery share the record of five Vertem Futurity Trophy winners.

Andrea Atzeni rode four successive winners here between 2013 and 2016. He was successful on Kingston Hill, Elm Park, Marcel and Rivet.