Focus On The Flat column - October 23 2025 - 2025 Flat Season Review

Races Now's flat racing expert Adam 'Smido' Smith takes a look back at the 2025 campaign in his latest Focus On The Flat column.

Reviewing the 2025 Flat season's 32 Group 1 races

Unless Aidan O’Brien having nine of the thirteen entries in the final Group One of the season is your thing, the flat season effectively ended on Saturday at Ascot – and what a season it has been.

We’ve had a 150/1 winner of the Sussex and 200/1 and 100/1 winners on Champions Day. That man O’Brien has run rampant in a load of European Group Ones and shout out to Francis Henri Graffard too, who has twelve to his name.

Gold shines as Guineas winners flatter to deceive

The very early part of the season belonged to Charlie Appleby and Godolphin who won both the 2,000 and 1,000 Guineas on their Newmarket home turf. Neither did a lot for the form thereafter, however.

Desert Flower has only raced once since, where she was the 11/10 beaten favourite in the Oaks whilst Ruling Court was a late non runner in the Derby and then third in both the St James’s Palace and Eclipse, before unfortunately succumbing to hoof disease laminitis in August.

It’s been a while since a horse that was second in a Classic has garnered such column inches – but many thought Field Of Gold should have won the Guineas.

I don’t think he did a lot wrong on the day. Plenty of others did, including the Gosden’s, who removed Shoemark from the stable jockey role. Regardless, Field Of Gold went on to dominate the Irish Guineas and really stamp his authority on the St James' Palace during day one of the Royal meeting.

The latter showing was particularly impressive, although he didn’t build on that electric win, sadly. More of that later.

Lockinge lacks star quality as O'Brien restores order at Epsom

Off to Newbury for the Lockinge where this author tipped the winner at 25/1. Lead Artist (17/2) led home Dancing Gemini (2/1) and Rosallion (9/4) – and none of them could win a race between them for the rest of the season. That’s the winner of the first three Group Ones of the British calendar that didn’t win another race between them.

For me, the Lockinge was marred by trainers Appleby and Richard Hannon telling us they were perfectly happy with their previous years’ Classic winners beforehand, only to tell us it was all eyes on the Queen Anne and that they needed the run afterwards.

The Epsom Classics are the most important in the world, and order was fittingly restored with Aidan O’Brien winning both. Minnie Hauk was the proven stamina at the trip going into the race and so it came to be, when she bettered stablemate Whirl in a sustained duel late on. Two good horses. Not a lot in behind.

I’ll be crowning Calandagan as the horse of the year later down this piece. Though the only blot on his record this year came in the Coronation Cup 80 minutes before the Oaks, when beaten at 8/13 at the hands of Jan Brueghel and Ryan Moore at his absolute brilliant best.

You’d be hard pressed to describe the other five runners in the race as Group One horses. The Coronation Cup is one of the many problems with the Epsom Derby meeting and often lacks a deep field.

Lambourn completed the Coolmore clean sweep of the Epsom Group Ones with an impressive three and three quarter length victory under Wayne Lordan. It was a race where the Dante form was absolutely trounced but somewhat bounced back later in the year with The Lion In Winter (14th), Pride Of Arras (17th) and Damysus (18th) all putting in good runs in the autumn period.

Lambourn might go down as the least sexy dual Derby winner ever. His season latterly petered out in the Voltigeur and St Leger.

Ascot always delivers

Owners, trainers and even racegoers seem to target Royal Ascot more than ever and 2025 was no different on that front.

A fantastic week of eight Group Ones and a whole host of massive field handicaps. There is probably too many of the latter for punters, who have 35 races to unpack across the five days.

Day one saw Docklands (Queen Anne) and Field Of Gold (St James’s Palace) join the growing list of 2025 Group One winners that did pretty much bugger all in their subsequent runs.

The mile division might be the worst I’ve ever seen in my fifteen years in the game. Lead Artist, Docklands, Qirat, Cicero’s Gift the roll call of the four open age, open sex mile Group Ones this year. Far from stellar.

Sprinting division continued theme of shocks

The sprinting Group Ones have been predictably unpredictable and it’s been said a thousand times there is no superstar in the division.

No single horse has one more than one open age sprint Group One since Bataash in 2020. Shout out to Shaquille who won the Commonwealth Cup and July Cup in 2023.

There are five sprint Group Ones in the UK – three at six furlongs, two at five furlongs – with an average SP this year of 58/1. Even taking out the madness of Powerful Glory’s 200/1 SP victory on Champions Day, the average of the other four races was 23/1.

Lazzat put daylight between himself and all other European rivals in the Jubilee Stakes but couldn’t back that up when short price favourite at Haydock and on Champions Day.

No Half Measures won the July Cup fair and square to my eye at 66/1. Second that day was Big Mojo who went on to win the worst draw bias top level race I’ve ever seen on these shores, the Sprint Cup in September.

The final six furlong Group One of the year was the most chaotic with the aforementioned Powerful Glory winning at a silly price out of nowhere. Lazzat in second, No Half Measures in third and Inisherin in fifth gave some fair substance to the form.

The real speedsters – the five furlong boys and girls – only get two chances at a Group One prize in the UK. American Affair went from a Musselburgh handicap in April to King Charles III glory. He would have surely had a say in races like the Nunthorpe until injury curtailed his season. He’ll be back next year, hopefully.

Australian mare Asfoora made it two UK Group Ones in two years when taking the Nunthorpe at York. Another draw bias race. It took the seven year old Aussie a while to get going this year, before grabbing the Nunthrope and Abbaye in the same season – good work.

Ombudsman and Delacroix battle but can't catch Calandagan

Back to Royal Ascot, where Ombudsman had a coming out party in the Prince Of Wales’s. Coming from an impossible looking position under William Buick to scoot away by two lengths in the end. A lofty official rating was put upon him thereafter.

The Eclipse at Sandown was next for the Godolphin four year old where a tactical race lead to him being mowed down late on by three year old Delacroix. The latter coming from what looked an absolutely impossible position to fantastically fly home for Ryan Moore.

Delacroix went off favourite for the Derby a month earlier but flopped badly into ninth over a trip too far. This was the start of an excellent run of races for the Dubawi colt, where a rivalry with Ombudsman would somewhat capture the imagination.

The pair met in the Juddmonte International where John and Thady Gosden insured there would be no repeat of the tactical complications that Ombudsman found himself in at Sandown. In came Andre Fabre trained, Godolphin owned Birr Castle for pacemaking duties.

Just weeks after we saw a pacemaker win the Sussex Stakes, many viewers might have been thinking here we go again as Birr Castle went twenty lengths clear at the half way stage. But all is well that ends well, as Ombudsman showed his potent turn of foot to get revenge on Delacroix. One one.

Delacroix then went on to win the Irish Champion Stakes before a round three between the two in the Champion Stakes at Ascot. But neither Ombudsman nor Delacroix could land a glove on undoubtedly the best horse in Europe, Calandagan, in what was without question the race of the season.

Lazy analysis pre-race would lead you to think Calandagan was better over twelve furlongs. He might be – but class shows through and he’s now won the King George and Champion Stakes in the same season. A top, top horse.

Trawlerman the top stayer

The staying division was quite straightforward this year with Trawlerman winning the Gold Cup at the Royal meeting, the Group Two Yorkshire Cup at the Ebor Festival and the Long Distance Cup on Champions Day when a shade of odds on.

Ballydoyle had to shuffle their staying pack at the start of the year when Kyprios’s sensational career came to an abrupt end through injury. Illinois and latterly Stay True where put up as rivals to Trawlerman but in truth, they couldn’t get anywhere near him. Sweet William did best at competing with Trawlermam but in truth, it’s a division that massively lacks depth.

Maybe St Leger star Scandinavia will lock horns with the champion Stayer next year.

A few forgettable efforts

As is often the case, the fillies only one mile races where pretty forgettable and had little to no barring on future races. Cercene (Coronation), Cinderella’s Dream (Falmouth) and Fallen Angel (Sun Chariot) weren’t very exciting. Fallen Angel definitely the best in that division but has no impact when she tries against the boys.

Of similar insignificance, Time For Sandals led home Commonwealth Cup Trifecta of 25/1, 28/1 and 20/1. A race that is officially on the European Pattern red list and could be downgraded if it continues to produce results and form like this.

We’ve mentioned the Sussex Stakes a couple of times. This was meant to be Field Of Gold’s graduation against older rivals, it was nothing like that as owner-mate pacemaker Qirat virtually won by accident. Rosallion was runner up and had excuses, something that would become a theme for him throughout the year.

Field Of Gold looked absolutely electric when beating his own generation with ease in the Irish 2,000 Guineas and St James’s Palace, clearly beating Cosmic Law and Henri Mattise in three year old only races doesn’t stack up in deeper, all age waters later in the season.

The heavens opened at Goodwood on day three and, through the fault of no one, the Nassau turned into a soggy farce. A flag start with 6/5 favourite Whirl getting a three-length head start on her four rivals. Not ideal.

York added a fourth Group One to their Ebor Festival this year with the seven furlong City Of York Stakes. Never So Brave took the inaugural running at the top level ad delivering a rare success for this column with both first and second tipped on these pages.

Marvellous Minnie is an Oaks collector

Also at York, we saw winner Minnie Hauk add to her Oaks haul (Chesire, Epsom, Irish and Yorkshire) when 8/15 in a four runner race.

I long thought she was pretty good despite not showing it against her elders or the boys to this point. And she went on to prove that when an excellent second in the Arc in early October. A good horse, indeed.

The Group Ones aren’t over yet. We still have the Racing Post Trophy to come, although I’ll leave reflecting on the two year old action for another day.

Just the thirty two top level races covered above (some in more depth than others, admittedly) and I’m looking forward to next season already!