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Andrew Balding: inside track on my Dubai Future Champions Festival squad

By Racing TV

Last Updated: Tue 6 Oct 2026

Andrew Balding is set to field a strong and varied team across the two days of the Dubai Future Champions Festival at Newmarket's Rowley Mile on Friday 9 and Saturday 10 October, headed by exciting juvenile filly Forbidden Fire in the Group 1 bet365 Fillies' Mile and backed up by leading contenders for the Group 1 Darley Dewhurst Stakes and the valuable Club Godolphin Cesarewitch Handicap.

Forbidden Fire

Race: bet365 Fillies' Mile (Friday)

Forbidden Fire heads Andrew Balding's Friday team and could prove one of the more intriguing runners in the field. Unbeaten in two starts, the daughter of No Nay Never made a winning debut before landing the Listed Flying Scotsman Stakes at Doncaster last month, getting the better of a useful field over seven furlongs. She beat some highly regarded colts that day and now steps up to a mile for the first time as she tackles the Group 1 bet365 Fillies' Mile.

Speaking to the Jockey Club ahead of her next engagement Andrew Balding said:

"Forbidden Fire is a lovely filly. She's beautifully bred. She always looked like she had some ability. She started really well at Salisbury and stepped up on that again, second time out in a Listed race against colts.

“The form has worked out well. The third horse [NABATI] has won the Mill Reef Stakes after that, so she's relatively lightly raced, with just two starts, and I hope there's still improvement in her.

"The question mark is probably stepping up to a mile. Her siblings have deceived me in staying further than we ever thought they would. It's probably worth a go, and she's got the class. I'd hope to be very competitive in the bet365 Fillies' Mile.

"I think if you can be competitive in a Fillies' Mile, you know where your stall's going to be set for next season. So part of the reason we're running there is a fact-finding mission, and particularly in terms of trip, I think we need to establish that as quickly as we can. If there is a chance she'll stay a mile, she's, as I say, a high-class filly and travels very strongly, very straightforward, and I'd hope she'd run well."

Forbidden Fire is a daughter of Balding's owner-breeder Jeff Smith's outstanding racemare Arabian Queen, the 2015 Juddmonte International heroine. The Kingsclere trainer knows the family inside out, having also handled her talented siblings, among them the Group-class See The Fire, Royal Playwright and Venetian Prince.

Scommessa Sicura

Race: bet365 Fillies' Mile (Friday)

Balding could be doubly represented in the Fillies' Mile, with the admirably tough Scommessa Sicura also among his possible contenders. The Opulence Thoroughbreds and Reece James owned filly has banked plenty of experience this season, opening her account at Newmarket's July Meeting before placed efforts in the Group 2 May Hill Stakes and the Listed Stonehenge Stakes.

Balding said: "Scommessa Sicura has been so consistent this year. She's had plenty of racing. She's never run a bad race, and she was second in the May Hill, second in the Stonehenge. She won her maiden at the July meeting.

"I think the fillies this year are a particularly strong group at all distances, and she mixed it with some of the best of them. It's great for Opulence to have a filly like her competing at the top level, and they've been owners with us for a while. Very understanding, very patient owners, and it's lovely to have a nice horse for them."

Gentle Hurricane

Race: Darley Dewhurst Stakes (Saturday)

Gentle Hurricane is set to line up in the Group 1 Darley Dewhurst Stakes on the Saturday as Balding bids to add to a fine recent record in the race. The colt advertised his potential when runner-up in the Group 3 Tattersalls Acomb Stakes at York, and connections will be hoping for a bold showing in one of Europe's most prestigious juvenile contest.

"Gentle Hurricane, I thought ran very well in the Acomb on only his second start. I think we expected a lot more in the Champagne Stakes at Doncaster.

“We've got very few other places to go with him at this moment in time, so I think we'll be looking at the Dewhurst and hope he can run well. And if he can finish in the top four, we'd be thrilled and setting him up nicely for next year.

"The Dewhurst, for as long as I've been alive, has been the number one two-year-old race in Europe. It really defines which is the best colt of each generation, and it's historically always a very strong race."

Balding has a fine recent record in the Dewhurst, having won two of the last four runnings. Chaldean took the 2022 renewal before going on to land the following season's QIPCO 2,000 Guineas, while Gewan sprang a 25-1 surprise to win in 2025 and was crowned Europe's champion two-year-old. Gewan sadly suffered a fatal injury on the gallops in the spring.

Tactician, Shrimp Shady & Berkshire Sundance

Race: Club Godolphin Cesarewitch Handicap (Saturday)

Balding could saddle a strong hand in the Club Godolphin Cesarewitch Handicap, one of the staying highlights of the Flat season, with Tactician, Shrimp Shady and Berkshire Sundance all among his potential runners. Between them the trio have collected valuable staying prizes throughout the campaign, and Balding is well placed to go close in a marathon handicap he has long coveted.

Discussing the credentials of the Park House Cesarwitch contenders, Balding said:

"Tactician would only run if there was some give in the ground. He had a long time off. Came back, ran a very good race in a Listed race at Chester. It was better than we were expecting, which affected his mark for the Cesarewitch, which was unfortunate. But he's a very decent horse. His form before he got injured was very strong and progressive, and it was a really good comeback run. But as I say, he'll only run if the ground is good or slower.

"Shrimp Shady's been on the go a long time, but he's had a very productive season. He's won over £100,000 in prize money, I think, this year, and rarely runs a bad race. If he can hold his form for another two weeks, he could be very competitive. He's off a good mark.

"The same really applies to Berkshire Sundance. He goes on any ground. He's won a lot of prize money this year and competed consistently in all these top staying handicaps. And I'd hope he again could run really well. It didn't really work for him in the Doncaster Cup on his latest start. He had to make the running, which wasn't ideal, and was rather exposed as a result. I think a bigger field would suit him better, and he could run well at a big price."

Reflecting on a race that has so far eluded him as a trainer, Balding added: "To be honest with you, I haven't won it under my own name, but we did win it a couple of times before I held the licence with Distant Prospect and Top Cees. It's a race I've always wanted to win in my own right, so it would be very nice.

"It's a unique test and I think you need a horse who can travel well, is probably well handicapped, and still got a bit of juice left at the end of a long season. And that is key. Both Shrimp Shady and Berkshire Sundance have had long seasons, whereas Tactician would be going there relatively fresh. So if he got his ground, he'd obviously be in there with a chance."

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