BOYLE Sports Home Of The Early Payout Rockfel Stakes
Group 2, Newmarket 14:25
£100,000 guaranteed,
2yo fillies only,
7f, Class 1   
Friday 26th September 2025

1 Zanthos 15/2
2 The Prettiest Star 12/1
3 Moon Target 5/1
10 ran Distances: ½l, 3l, nk
Time: 1m 24.19s (slow by 0.89s)

The €1million breeze-up purchase Zanthos stormed back to form with a bold front-running victory here.

She had looked the part on debut over the July course, but found Touleen too strong when the pair clashed at Leicester earlier this month. Back for the rematch, confidence in the market ebbed away as she drifted from second favourite in the morning to 15-2 at the off.

None of that mattered once the gates opened. Oisin Murphy bounced her out from stall 10, charting a solo course down the stands’ rail. Bowling along with a raking stride, the daughter of Sioux Nation cut an imposing figure on the Rowley Mile.

William Buick, on the slowly away 11-10 favourite Touleen, switched across to lay down a challenge, but she never landed a blow. Instead, it was Ed Walker’s The Prettiest Star who closed to within half a length late on, with Sir Mark Prescott’s Moon Target staying on into third. But Zanthos never truly looked like being caught, and she crossed the line still full of purpose, cut afterwards to 16-1 for next year’s 1000 Guineas by Paddy Power. Touleen could finish only fifth.

Ed Crisford said: “We just said to Oisin to keep her happy and let her use her stride. I thought she was maybe doing a bit too much in the early part, but she was travelling so well.

“I was a bit nervous the last half-furlong but she stuck on well and she’s a classy filly.”

Reflecting on Leicester, he added: “We didn’t realise the pace was going to be that slow and we’d tried to do something different. It turned into a two-furlong sprint. Whether that suited Touleen that day I’m not sure, but we put our filly behind and she was doing too much.

“Oisin told us to put a line through the race and to move on, so we were confident we were going to run well today but maybe not beat the Leicester winner.

“She’s obviously a very talented filly with a lot of ability and hopefully she can turn into a proper filly.”

As for next steps, Crisford signalled patience: “We always felt she’d definitely stay a mile, but today it looked like she was tying up coming up the hill.

“The sensible thing is probably to put her away and bring her back for a Fred Darling or a Nell Gwyn in the spring and see where we go from there.

“We always felt she would stay a mile, the riders at home felt she would stay a mile and Oisin feels she could stay a mile.

“She’s a good quality filly and an exciting filly for next year.”

Walker, meanwhile, could take plenty from The Prettiest Star’s effort: “It was a huge performance on the back of one run. You think they’re good, but you never quite know until they come into a race of this nature and she’s shown she’s pretty good.

“We’re very lucky we’ve got a nice bunch of two-year-old fillies and she’d be right up there. She’s a big girl who will do very well from two to three.

“We’ve been slightly bumbling along hoping there might be some decent ground and it came good.

“She got plenty wrong today. Kieran (Shoemark) said she could certainly learn to relax better and I think there’s stacks of improvement, which is really exciting.

“She’s done now for the year and we can start her next season in a Fred Darling or a Nell Gwyn.”

And Prescott, buoyed by Moon Target’s third, added: “That was a better effort and I don’t know what happened at Doncaster really, it was just one of those things.

“Today she ran as though she’ll be better over a mile and at Doncaster it didn’t look as if she wanted a mile at all. I’m not quite sure what’s happened in 15 days, but she’s within shouting distance of the good ones and we’ll see what happens.

“She had disappointed at Doncaster and we tried all sorts of different things – the back man came to see her, we put cheekpieces on her and rode her a bit differently.

“It’s no good standing around doing the same thing when you’ve had a disaster, so I suppose it all adds up.

“I would imagine that would be it for this year as I think she wants fast ground. If she ran again it would only be here (in the Fillies’ Mile).”

Rockfel Stakes (Fillies' Group 2)
£100,000 guaranteed, 2yo only, 7f, Class 1
10 ran
Going: Good to Firm

POS. (DRAW) FORM HORSE AGE WGT TRAINER JOCKEY
1 (10)     Zanthos 2 9-2 Simon & Ed Crisford Oisin Murphy 15/2
2 (7) ½ The Prettiest Star 2 9-2 Ed Walker Kieran Shoemark 12/1
3 (4) 3 Moon Target 2 9-2 Sir Mark Prescott Bt Luke Morris 5/1
4 (2) nk Awaken 2 9-2 George Boughey Billy Loughnane 17/2
5 (5) 1½ Touleen 2 9-2 Owen Burrows William Buick 11/10F
6 (3) 5 Nandita 2 9-2 John & Thady Gosden Colin Keane 16/1
7 (6) ¾ Samra Green 2 9-2 K R Burke Clifford Lee 12/1
8 (9) 1 Mandarin Spirit 2 9-2 Kevin Ryan Kevin Stott 66/1
9 (8) ¾ Sukanya 2 9-2 Jack Channon Tom Marquand 20/1
10 (1) 6 Ice Sovereigns 2 9-2 Charlie Johnston Rossa Ryan 33/1