Owners Juddmonte had a rewarding Wednesday, with two promising juveniles winning, alongside a victory in the feature race at Sandown.
At Sandown, Harry Charlton's Cosmic Year made an impressive debut in the Sir Michael Stoute – Farewell And Thank You Novice Stakes under Oisin Murphy, attracting a 33-1 quote for the 2000 Guineas from Paddy Power.
Meanwhile, at Yarmouth, the Stoute-trained Nightwalker confirmed the potential he showed in his debut third, making all the running under Ryan Moore on his birthday in the EBF Future Stayers Maiden Stakes.
Both two-year-olds boast exceptional Juddmonte bloodlines. Cosmic Year (5-2) is by Kingman and out of Passage Of Time, both Group One winners for Juddmonte, while Nightwalker is a half-brother to US Grade One winner Whitebeam and shares a lineage with St Leger winner Logician.
"It’s been a good day at the office," said Juddmonte’s Barry Mahon. "Harry mentioned that Cosmic Year looked exceptional a while back, and Oisin had high praise for him too, so we were excited to see him perform today."
"It’s always hard to gauge their true potential at home, so it was great to see him respond when asked. He looks like an exciting prospect."
"He has a strong Juddmonte pedigree, related to Time Test and Tempus, and his mother, Passage Of Time, was a great race mare. He’s bred to succeed and looks the part physically."
"Oisin mentioned he’d be fine whether he runs again or is put away for the season, but I think it would be beneficial for him to have another run in a suitable stakes race to gain experience. With spring next year bringing a flurry of Group Ones, experience can be crucial."
At Yarmouth, Nightwalker (6-5) held off the well-backed Ultrasoul, who had performed well in the Convivial maiden at York.
"Nightwalker was just a bit green in his first run and got stuck out wide," Mahon noted. "Ryan had liked him in work and I believe he’s a promising horse who should handle a mile and a quarter next year."
"Hopefully, Michael will want to run him one more time this year, especially since it’s his last – winning the race named after him at Sandown was a nice touch."
At Doncaster last week, Juddmonte did face a rare setback with Jonquil, who failed to perform after a promising debut at Sandown.
"Ryan felt he was very flat and was beaten by halfway. He checked out fine afterwards, so we’ll chalk it up to him being flat and the race coming too soon," Mahon explained.