Champions past, present and future make it a Super Saturday

Godolphin horses produced statement performances across the world on Saturday, with Observer and Tempted shining in Australia, Rebel’s Romance dazzling in Dubai and Knightsbridge dominating in North America.

Observer became the fourth horse to complete the VRC Derby-Australian Guineas double as he comfortably took the mile feature at Flemington. The Ghaiyyath colt has already assured his place as a stallion and looks set to take in some more significant races over the coming weeks, with the Australian Cup, Rosehill Guineas and Doncaster Mile on his radar.

Fellow three-year-old Tempted had chased home Ka Ying Rising in The Everest back in October and the Street Boss filly picked up a deserved first G1 with a brave display in the Surround Stakes at Randwick.

Tempted’s only defeat at Randwick came in The Everest and she looks set to try and bid for a fifth course win next month, with the TJ Smith Stakes and Arrowfield Sprint potential targets.

Rebel’s Romance has already compiled an outstanding profile, and the nine-time G1 winner continues to astound as he registered a 16th Group-race win in the Dubai City Of Gold on Emirates Super Saturday at Meydan.

Godolphin’s most successful horse, who was crowned Champion Male Turf Horse at the 2024 Eclipse Awards, could return for the G1 Dubai Sheema Classic – a race he won in 2024 – or alternatively go on his travels again in search of more big-race success.

Junior Alvarado hailed Knightsbridge as “the best miler in the country” after guiding the five-year-old to an effortless victory in the G3 Gulfstream Park Mile. Having won three Graded Stakes on the bounce in Florida over the winter, the half-brother to Speaker’s Corner looks set to make his G1 debut in the Churchill Downs Stakes on Kentucky Derby Day.

Cody’s Wish won the same Churchill Downs race before going on to annex the Met Mile and Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile during his outstanding 2023 that saw him crowned American Horse of the Year, and a similar campaign could be on the cards for Knightsbridge.

Hidden Force also heads into the spring with an exciting profile in the UK after maintaining his unbeaten record with a smooth success in Wednesday’s “European Road To The Kentucky Derby” Conditions Stakes at Kempton Park.

Godolphin runners have scored in five of the last six editions of the all-weather contest, including subsequent G1 scorers Notable Speech and Opera Ballo, and Hidden Force appears to hold a similarly bright future.