Darley Dewhurst Stakes
Group 1, Newmarket 15:00
£500,000 guaranteed,
2yo only,
7f, Class 1   
Saturday 11th October 2025

The unbeaten Zavateri, Eve Johnson Houghton’s rising star, will stride into the Darley Dewhurst Stakes with a perfect record and Classic ambitions glinting on the horizon. Four runs, four wins, and now the final act of his juvenile campaign beckons before the curtain rises on a potential 2000 Guineas tilt next spring.

At the Curragh on September 14, the son of Without Parole added the National Stakes to his growing résumé, edging out Aidan O’Brien’s Gstaad by a head in a finish that had hearts racing and pulses skipping. It marked the second Group One of Johnson Houghton’s career, and Zavateri’s third Pattern success—though not without a flicker of drama.

“He’s great, he was back home by five o’clock this morning. When I went to see him at half past five, (he had his) head in the manger,” the Woodway Stables handler said on Monday.

“He’s lost a bit of weight, but that’s only to be expected as he’s had a ferry journey there and back, but he looks great.

“Well I did (worry when the inquiry was called). I couldn’t see why they’d take it off him and everyone kept saying ‘of course you’ll keep it’, but it seemed to go on for a very long time. I keep thinking ‘did it really happen?’. Yep, it did!”

The colt who had already conquered the July Stakes and Vintage Stakes now eyes Newmarket on October 11, where the Dewhurst will serve as both a test and a teaser for what may lie ahead.

“It wasn’t his ideal conditions (in the National Stakes), but it probably wasn’t anyone’s ideal conditions and they all had to run in it,” Johnson Houghton added.

“They were two and a half seconds faster than the fillies’ race (Moyglare Stud Stakes). It takes some doing, winning four from four and two Group Twos and a Group One. It takes a special horse to do that.

“I’ll go on holiday, he’ll put his feet up and then we’ll regroup and start again. He won’t go anywhere after the Dewhurst. He’ll have a winter break, then all eyes on the Guineas after that.”

BoyleSports

Dubai Dewhurst Stakes (Group 1)
£500,000 guaranteed, 2yo only, 7f, Class 1
26 remaining entries
Going:

NO. FORM HORSE AGE WGT TRAINER JOCKEY (form as of Sep 16)
1 11221 A Bit Of Spirit 2 9-3 Clive Cox
2 31 Action 2 9-3 A P O'Brien
3 11 Alparslan 2 2 9-3 K R Burke
4 1 Amadeus Mozart 2 9-3 A P O'Brien
5 211 Benvenuto Cellini 2 9-3 A P O'Brien
6 1424 Brussels 3 2 9-3 A P O'Brien
7 113 Daytona 2 9-3 A P O'Brien
8 02 Decem Starr 2 9-3 Jack Jones
9 13 Distant Storm 2 9-3 Charlie Appleby
10 2154 Dorset 2 9-3 A P O'Brien
11 5215 Frescobaldi 2 9-3 A P O'Brien
12 114 Gewan 2 9-3 Andrew Balding
3 1122 Gstaad 2 9-3 A P O'Brien
14 12 Hankelow 2 9-3 K R Burke
15 51 Hawk Mountain 2 9-3 A P O'Brien
16 1223 Italy 2 9-3 A P O'Brien
17 31 Montreal 2 9-3 A P O'Brien
18 71 New Zealand 2 9-3 A P O'Brien
19 512 Oxagon 2 9-3 John & Thady Gosden
20 14 Pacific Avenue 2 9-3 Charlie Appleby
21 422241 Puerto Rico 2 9-3 A P O'Brien
22 116 Saba Desert 2 9-3 Charlie Appleby
23 2211 Time To Turn 2 9-3 Charlie Appleby
24 6321 Wechaad 2 9-3 Roger Varian
25 1232 Wild Desert 2 9-3 Charlie Appleby
26 1111 Zavateri 2 9-3 Eve Johnson Houghton