Fascinating Nunthorpe in prospect as Frenetic juveniles come to the fore

The Nunthorpe Stakes has thrown up some fantastic winners over the years, with the likes of Borderlescott, Sole Power, Mecca’s Angel and Battaash all being recent winners of the Grade 1 contest. This year’s race is coming together fantastically, with some fascinating two-year-old’s entering the fray.

It’s going to be Frenetic

The only Group 1 contest in Britain over the five-furlong distance that is open to two-year-olds, juveniles who take their chance will certainly be rewarded. Frenetic is one of those younger horses looking to take advantage and with the filly’s allowance also in mind, she would be carrying just eight-stone in the York feature.

That presents a challenge, given how low that weight is for most jockeys, as Ger Lyon’s explained: “She has 8st in the Nunthorpe, my biggest problem now is who’d ride her. I asked Chris Hayes but he wouldn’t do 8st. So the ride will come a begging for somebody“.

Unbeaten in her first two starts, Frenetic lost her unbeaten record when running out of petrol over the six-furlong distance at the Curragh. A horse who flashes jaw-dropping speed early in her races, a return to the minimum distance will see her back to her very best.

A freakish performance over the five-furlong distance just three weeks prior showed just how promising this filly is, with Lyon’s continuing: “Looking at her speed she looks as though she’s going to be a rock-solid five-furlong type of filly“.

She’ll be up against it taking on her elders, namely Battaash, who will likely try to force a pace battle, but her concessions make a huge danger if she takes her chance.

Take two for Golden Pal

Finishing a great second in the Norfolk Stakes at Royal Ascot, Golden Pal will bid to make it second-time lucky on British shores when he also tries to exploit the healthy allowance for juveniles in this Group 1 contest. Set to carry 8st 11lb, he’ll be receiving twenty-four pounds from a weight-stricken Battaash, who might have to track the pace in a contest that is shaping up to be a tearaway battle at the front.

Golden Pal will be trying to emulate Kingsgate Native, who landed the race in 2007 to become just the second two-year-old winner of the Nunthorpe since the turn of the century.

Wesley Ward is no stranger to sending juveniles to this prestigious contest, with 2015 Queen Mary winner Acapulco finishing runner-up to Mecca’s Angel just a few months later.