Dewhurst hero Gewan named champion two-year-old of 2025

Andrew Balding’s Gewan is likely to head straight to the Qipco 2000 Guineas after being confirmed as the European champion juvenile for 2025.

An impressive winner on his Newbury debut in mid-July, the Night Of Thunder colt went on to land the Group Three Acomb Stakes at York before disappointing as a hot favourite for the Champagne Stakes at Doncaster.

However, he roared back to winning ways with a season-ending Group One success in the Dewhurst at Newmarket, achieving an official rating of 121 to put him 2lb clear of the rest of last term’s two-year-olds.

Paul Curran, racing and bloodstock manager for Ace Stud, whose owner Harris Li will run his horses under the Forz Europe banner this year, said during a British Horseracing Authority media call: “It’s a huge honour for us to be involved with such a horse and to have the cherry on top of being crowned champion two-year-old is a fantastic achievement.

“We look back at the year with great delight and we’re always talking about it through the winter, saying we’re going to be dreaming for 2026.

“It was a dream year that we had with him in 2025 and to come out as the highest-rated two-year-old reflects on the quality that he is.

“At the moment we’re obviously looking at the 2000 Guineas. Typically most horses that win a Dewhurst turn their script towards a Guineas campaign and we’re more than likely going to go straight there.

“We want to take him easy into the year because we’re looking at longevity with the horse and we don’t want to go gung-ho for one race and one race only. The Guineas isn’t the be-all and end-all for the horse, we know he’s got a huge campaign after that, and we want to give him every chance to progress.”

When asked whether he felt Gewan could also develop into a Derby contender, Curran added: “We’ll see, he’ll tell us what he wants to do.

“We haven’t looked beyond the Guineas and who knows? It would be nice to think he could be (a Derby horse), but we’ll let him do the talking for us.”

Following Gewan in the two-year-old classifications are the Aidan O’Brien-trained pair of Gstaad and Puerto Rico, each with a mark of 119.

O’Brien is also responsible for the two highest-rated fillies, with Precise and True Love being awarded a mark of 115 and therefore sharing the title of champion juvenile filly.

The second highest-rated British representative in the colts’ division, with a mark of 118, is the Eve Johnson Houghton-trained Zavateri. A winner of four of his five starts, the Without Parole colt won the Group One National Stakes at the Curragh before finishing fourth behind Gewan in the Dewhurst.

Britain’s highest-rated filly is Venetian Sun (114). Trained by Karl Burke, she too took Group One honours in the Prix Morny to go alongside her victories in the Albany Stakes at Royal Ascot and the Duchess of Cambridge Stakes at Newmarket’s July Festival.

Graeme Smith, BHA handicapping team leader, said: “Gewan became the first outright European champion two-year-old to emerge from Kingsclere in the 48-year history of the classification, bettering the achievement of Andrew Balding’s previous Dewhurst and subsequent 2000 Guineas winner Chaldean (119) in 2022.

“He follows Forest Flower (125 in 1986) and Mrs Penny (joint champion in 1979 at 121), who were both crowned champion two-year-old fillies for Andrew’s late father, Ian.

“Gewan’s 121 performance in defying long odds in the Dewhurst Stakes capped a stellar year for his sire, Night Of Thunder. As well as being represented in 2025 by the top-class Ombudsman and 1000 Guineas winner Desert Flower, the Darley stallion established a strong hand for the 2026 Classics.

“Royal Lodge Stakes winner Bow Echo (115) and Distant Storm (115), who finished third behind the imposing grey Gewan in the Dewhurst, also rank within the top 11 in this year’s classification.”

Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board handicapper Mark Bird said: “Aidan O’Brien trained Europe’s champion juvenile filly for the third year in a row and for a record ninth time in total as Precise and True Love shared top billing on a rating of 115.

“True Love’s victory in the Cheveley Park Stakes at Newmarket was matched by Precise’s success in the Fillies’ Mile at the same track two weeks later.

“In what was a banner year for the Ballydoyle-trained two-year-olds, Aidan trained a record seven individual two-year-old Group/Grade One winners in 2025. He also matched his previous best total of nine two-year-old Group/Grade One race wins in a calendar year, as well as equalling his highest total of two-year-old winners (three) at Royal Ascot.

“This dominance of the two-year-old landscape is reflected in his being responsible for six of the top 10 horses in the classification.”