Charlie Appleby readying juvenile aces for Group One action

With his string in red-hot form, Charlie Appleby is poised to send the cream of his juvenile crop in search of top honours in the coming weeks.

Both Desert Castle and Musical Times enhanced their reputations with first Group-level successes in the Champagne and May Hill Stakes respectively during last week’s St Leger Festival at Doncaster, shooting up towards the head of the betting for next year’s Classics in the process.

The former is now pencilled in for duty on home Newmarket soil in the Dewhurst Stakes next month, a race Appleby has won with Pinatubo (2019), Native Trail (2021) and Shadow Of Light (2024) previously.

“I didn’t want to be too confident, but I’d have been disappointed if he’d got beat in the Champagne,” said Appleby.

“He’s come out of it well, and it’s a straightforward task to head to the Dewhurst. He’s still learning.”

Musical Times could join her stablemate at the Dubai Future Champions Festival, having been pencilled in for the previous day’s bet365 Fillies’ Mile.

However, Appleby is reserving the right to send the exciting daughter of Lope De Vega to France a week earlier if conditions dictate.

“Musical Times has come out of her race well and the priority would be the Fillies’ Mile, but if it’s quick ground at Newmarket and a bit slower in France, then we could go to the Prix Marcel Boussac with her,” he continued.

“I think she’s versatile, but if you want to see the best of her, I think the slower the ground, the better.”

Notable Speech aside, the trophy cabinet has looked somewhat barren at Moulton Paddocks this summer as the big-races on the calendar have come and gone without significant contribution from one of Newmarket’s powerhouse stables.

However, for Appleby there was never a cause for concern, as his steadfast commitment to the tried and tested is beginning to bear fruit with a phenomenal September that has so far yielded 15 winners from 24 runners.

“I always say keep going and don’t change the recipe if it works,” said Appleby.

“Everyone is allowed their freedom of speech, as they say, but I was never worried. Yes, you could say they were running badly earlier this season because they weren’t winning, but they just weren’t good enough to win, it was as simple as that.

“You have to drop them down a peg and the older horses are all starting to find their level now. They all have to find their level and as much as from the outside it might look disappointing, as long as internally you’re not worried about it, then keep a steady hand on the tiller and it will come right.

“The older horses, the likes of Cerro Blanco, Distant Storm and Talk Of New York, they are all capable of winning Group Ones I feel and therefore if we give them time and let everyone else go out and have their tear-up, we’ll just play a waiting game and run them when we’re ready.”

Central to the Appleby resurgence has been the crack team of juveniles he is assembling at a time of year when his youngsters are often seen coming to the fore.

As well as the aforementioned A-team of Desert Castle and Musical Times, a productive two days at Newbury has seen the gigantic Bin Jahwar enter the picture for next year’s Derby, while Nabati gave the Godolphin handler a second successive Mill Reef Stakes.

Meanwhile in the first fixture back at the Rowley Mile, Appleby saw Flower Show impress when opening her account at the second attempt, while he has also scooped Group One honours in the juvenile division across the pond in Canada thanks to Al Hudaiba.

Appleby continued: “I’ve always been half confident with the two-year-olds, but the hardest part can be when you’re in the position we were in the spring and you’re still not wanting to train the two-year-olds. When the older horses aren’t performing, it’s very easy to think, ‘I have to go and start to bring some ammunition out’.

“I’m lucky in the position I’m in where I can just say ‘right lads, don’t worry’. we just have to let these two-year-olds come and they’ll repay us. If I started training them early on, when the older horses weren’t turning up, they’d be burnt out, or something would have gone wrong.

“Sometimes you’ve got to just tread water a bit, and then they’ll find their way.”