Godolphin waiting for next up-and-coming horses to emerge

A crop which contained Group 1 winners Tentyris, Beiwacht, Observer, Tempted, Attica, and Green Spaces is always going to be a hard act to follow, but history tells us that Godolphin’s three-year-olds bloom early in the spring.    

Across the trio of three-year-old stakes races on Saturday, Godolphin is represented by just two colts, Diameter and Outspan, in the Group 3 Up And Coming at Rosehill.

The Group 3 San Domenico Stakes, one of the key spring starting points for Sydney’s three-year-old sprinters, and the McNeil Stakes at Caulfield, are without representation from the global giant. 

It raises questions about where Godolphin’s current three-year-old crop is at, not least from the Australian operation’s managing director Andy Makiv, but he also acknowledged it is too early to mark the breeding and racing giant’s spring three-year-old card.

While Godolphin won the Up And Coming in 2023 with subsequent multiple Group 1 winner Tom Kitten and twice more than a decade earlier with Blackball (2010) and Albrecht (2012), they have never won the San Domenico or the McNeil Stakes.

They’re not races that the racing operation has traditionally targeted, although trainer Chris Waller used the San Domenico as a spring starting point for Beiwacht last year, with the future dual Group 1 winner finishing third.

He won the Golden Rose in record time two starts later and, now a four-year-old stallion, is accepted to resume in the Memsie Stakes on Saturday at Caulfield in an attempt to win his third Group 1 race in the space of 11 months.

Tom Kitten, who was gelded after his three-year-old season, is also first-up in the Memsie.

Last weekend, Makiv was able to showcase Coolmore Stud Stakes winner Tentyris at Darley’s Kelvinside Stud in the Hunter Valley, with the commercial stallion prospect standing alongside champion two-year-old Broadsiding, Traffic Warden and champion Anamoe.

Beiwacht, who like Anamoe, has been given the chance to race on at four before he is retired to stud next year.

Makiv admits he can’t yet identify a stallion prospect or a standout filly in Godolphin’s current three-year-olds for the spring majors, but he knows that a lot can change in a short time.

In an hour at Flemington last year, two of the 2026 roster additions were anointed when Tentyris won the Coolmore and Observer the Victoria Derby. 

“I suppose we’re crossing everything and hoping. The two-year-old crop from last year doesn’t feel as strong,” Makiv says.

“Unfortunately, Medicinal is going to miss the spring with a little bit of lameness. I think she’s a very good filly. She’s fine and she’ll be there for the autumn.”

“(This time last year) we had Tentyris coming back from injury and we were hoping to get him back, and he did. We had Beiwacht coming back as a Group 2 winner, and he won two Group 1s, so we probably weren’t expecting that.”

Trained by Ben, JD and Will Hayes, Medicinal won a Group 3 Ottawa Stakes and finished runner-up in the Group 2 Percy Sykes in April.

For now, the Chris Waller-trained Diameter and the Michael Freedman-trained Outspan, carry the hopes of Godolphin.

Pago Pago Stakes-placed Bivouac colt Outspan has returned to Sydney after coming from last to run sixth at Caulfield in the Group 3 Vain Stakes, won by Hard Kick, a fortnight ago. 

Diameter, a son of Brazen Beau, could develop into a quality 1600m-plus horse this preparation, having won a Fernhill Handicap and running third in the Champagne Stakes at the back-end of his two-year-old campaign.

And then there’s hope that untried or lightly raced three-year-olds will emerge.

“(Australian Derby winner) Green Spaces was a Geelong winner, I think, at this stage last year. Observer got beaten on a Wednesday in a benchmark 64 first up, and he went on to win two Group 1s,” Makiv says.

“I’m not sure Attica had even raced, so it’s funny how things turn quickly. Obviously, the older horses we’re very happy with. I think Pericles has come back great. Green Spaces has come back great and they’re very happy with Tempted, etc.

“We’ve got nice older horses, but we’re not sure where the three-year-olds sit, but there’s a nice Ghaiyyath there and a few others, so hopefully one bobs up, and I think we’ve got a really nice two-year-old group. 

“Time will tell, but we’re hopeful.”

The numbers are certainly on Godolphin’s side. Their website identifies 53 three-year-olds currently in training, spread across nine different stables.

Of that list, eight have yet to start, 10 have won races, and a further 35 have begun their careers but are yet to win.