Five horses yet to place at Group 1 level who could become star performers in 2024.
With a new year dawning, it's time to gaze into the crystal and nominate a few horses who are yet to win at Group 1 level that could be elite-level winners before their careers are out.
The likes of Asfoora, Buenos Noches, Antino and Skybird loom as obvious candidates, but we'll look beyond them and select our team from horses are yet to place at Group 1 level.
Far Too Easy : The Kosciuszko has been a great addition to the racing calendar for horses trained in regional New South Wales, giving them the chance to race for Group 1 prizemoney without contesting the Group 1 races, but it's kept horses like Far Too Easy away from the top level.
Murwillumbah trainer David McColm has understandably targeted that $2 million event with the All Too Hard five-year-old the past two years, meaning the only Group race Far Too Easy has contested has been this year's Group 2 Moreton Cup, in which he finished second.
He blew his rivals away in the Listed Lough Neagh Stakes (1400m) on December 16, when he posted a Timeform rating of 114, a number he could easily elevate when tested against better opposition and the Stradbroke Handicap looks the ideal target for him this year.
First Immortal : Honed his craft in 3YO events through the middle part of the year and the initial plan was to give him a soft spring, but a slashing first-up run at The Valley and dominant Caulfield win under 63kg prompted trainers Mark and Levi Kavanagh to give him his chance to earn a spot in the big ones as a 4YO.
The son of Churchill narrowly missed a Melbourne Cup spot when second in the Group 3 The Bart Cummings (2500m) and was not beaten far despite finishing seventh in the Group 3 Geelong Cup (2400m), but not being thrown in at the deep end could prove a blessing and he could develop into a key player in the big Cups later in the year.
Miraval Rose : Another promising product of young stallion Grunt who hasn't finished further back than second in four starts.
Beaten at a short price on debut, she bounced back at Kyneton at start two, was unlucky not to win the Group 3 Thoroughbred Club Stakes (1200m) at start three then demolished her rivals in the Listed Twilight Glow Stakes (1400m) on December 2.
She ran 106 on the Timeform scale in the Twilight Glow, the highest winning figure in that race in 14 years, and looks a key player in whatever race Grahame Begg decides to set her for given her scope for improvement.
Roll On High : We could have picked any one of a few Peter Moody and Katherine Coleman-trained three-year-old fillies – apologies to Mollynickers and Autumn Angel in particular – but we'll go with the last-start Desirable Stakes winner.
Roll On High went 108+ to win that race, defeating the subsequent Thousand Guineas quinella of Joliestar and Kimochi, in what was the fourth and final start of her initial campaign.
The Desirable win proved her credentials at 1400m – the distance of the first fillies-only Group 1 of the year, the Surround Stakes (Feb 24) – but being by Shamus Award out of a High Chaparral suggests 1600m and beyond could be well within her scope with the Australasian Oaks (2000m) a possible option.
Wishlor Lass : Symon Wilde's mare might be five years old, but she only had her first start just over 12 months' ago – bolting in by seven lengths in a Warrnambool maiden – and she was something of a punters' darling during the carnival, stringing together three-straight wins at short quotes.
She was tested at Group 1 level in the Empire Rose Stakes (1600m) and while well held by Pride Of Jenni, that was only her ninth start in a race.
That suggests there could be a length or two improvement in here and if she does that she looms as a lightweight hope in a Coolmore Classic with the Toorak Handicap presenting as a suitable spring target if connections decide to race on another season with the daughter of Mshawish.
