The son of Lope De Vega became just the second horse since Diesis in 1982 to complete the Middle Park-Dewhurst double after winning the Juddmonte Middle Park Stakes at Newmarket in September and then going on to win the Darley Dewhurst Stakes at the highest level. The Charlie Appleby-trained colt went two-for-two in a novice race at Newmarket the following month after winning his debut at Yarmouth in July. In the Group Two Gimcrack Stakes at York, he was surpassed in class and came in second to Cool Hoof Luke. After gaining that experience, Shadow of Light went into overdrive to win the Middle Park by four lengths, following in the footsteps of his three-part brother Earthlight, who won the six-furlong race five years prior.
After Pinatubo (128–2019) and Native Trail (122–2021), Appleby won his third Champion Two-Year-Old title with Shadow of Light’s close victory over Ballydoyle’s Expanded at Dewhurst. Shadow of Light became only the third horse in over a century to win both the Middle Park and Dewhurst, and his decisive victory in the first of them earned him the title of European Champion Two-Year-Old of 2024 with a rating of 120, according to BHA Handicapping Team Leader Graeme Smith.The degree of competition at the top is what makes this year’s classification unique. Eight of the horses are rated between 117 and 120, which definitely piques interest in some captivating competition during their next classic season.
The Aiden O’Brian-trained Lake Victoria, who finished second in the classification with a rating of 119, accomplished the unique distinction of winning three Group One races in as many nations last season thanks to her victories in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (USA), the Moyglare Stud Stakes (Ireland), and the Cheveley Park Stakes (Britain). As the only Champion Filly in the history of the Classifications to win three Group/Grade 1 races at the age of two, Lake Victoria made her own history en route to becoming the 2024 Champion European Two-Year-Old Filly, according to IHRB Handicapper Mark Bird. Even more impressively, the daughter of Frankel won at the highest levels in three different races, six furlongs, seven furlongs, and a mile in three different countries.
“Among Aidan O’Brien’s eight Champion European Two-Year-Old Fillies to date, she is ranked second only to Minding [2015]. She also matches the record set by Found [2014] this century in becoming the outright two-year-old Champion ahead of the colts in her home country of Ireland, which for the first time ever had the most horses on the Two-Year-Old Classification.”
O’Brien also trained the joint-third horses in the Classification, “https://www.sportinglife.com/racing/profiles/horse/1145078”>Expanded and The Lion In Winter (118), with the latter winning both his starts before suffering a bruised foot ahead of the Dewhurst Stakes – a race he was favourite for – which brought a premature end to his season.
Godolphin’s Desert Flower, the top juvenile filly in Britain, finished with a rating of 117 after an undefeated two-year-old career that culminated in a five-and-a-half-length victory in the Group 1 bet365 Fillies’ Mile.
