Geoffrey Freer offers a St Leger clue at Newbury
The Group 3 staying test over an extended mile and five has long pointed towards Doncaster
Alongside the milers on Newbury’s Saturday card comes a race with one eye firmly on September. The Highclere Thoroughbred Racing Geoffrey Freer Stakes, a Group 3 over one mile five furlongs and 61 yards for three-year-olds and upwards, has a long record as a stepping stone, with promising middle-distance types using it to sharpen up before the St Leger at Doncaster.
Heritage and recent history
The contest carries plenty of heritage. First run in 1949, it held Group 2 status until being reclassified as a Group 3 in 2006, and its roll of honour is headed by the triple winner Mubtaker. More recently it has produced horses who went on to the very top, Hukum among them, winning it on his way to later Group 1 glory.
For the staying and middle-distance division it remains a useful pointer, and with final entries confirmed at declarations, the Geoffrey Freer gives Newbury’s card a classic flavour to sit alongside its sprinters.
The essentials:
- When: Saturday 15 August 2026, Newbury (off ~13:25 BST)
- Race: Highclere Thoroughbred Racing Geoffrey Freer Stakes – Group 3, 1m5f61y, 3yo+
- Angle: recognised St Leger trial
- Background: first run 1949; Group 3 since 2006; Mubtaker a triple winner
- TV: Live on ITV (ITV1)
Updated 15.08, [16:39]: Geoffrey Freer result. Wine Dark Sea (7-2), trained by Harry Charlton and ridden by Hector Crouch, made all to win the Group 3 Highclere Thoroughbred Racing Geoffrey Freer Stakes at Newbury. The Ulysses gelding kept on strongly to beat the 5-2 second favourite Tabletalk by a length and a half, with 2-1 favourite Dubai Honour a neck away in third. Five ran on good-to-firm ground, the winner clocking 2m 47.81s – a fraction inside standard – and collecting £56,710. The win was part of a hat-trick on the card for Crouch.
