Punters Look Into The Sky for Mill Reef Winner

Newbury Racecourse
Image: Michael Keen, flickr

The Ayr Gold Cup provides the betting centrepiece to the racing weekend, as 25 sprinters lock horns in the Scottish track’s flagship contest. Thrilling as that six-furlong event promises to be, the pick of the action from a class perspective comes from Newbury.

Around 20 minutes before the Ayr Gold Cup, eight youngsters do battle in the Mill Reef Stakes. Named in honour of the 1970s superstar, this £125,000 Group 2 affair boasts an illustrious roll of honour and has attracted an intriguing cast of contenders in 2025.

Previous Winners

Winning 12 of 14 starts between 1970 and 1972, including a host of Group 1 contests, Mill Reef had a race created in his honour in the year he retired. Subsequent 2,000 Guineas winner Mon Fils won the inaugural edition in 1972, and the standard of the average winner has remained high. Focusing on the 21st century, the following stars all built on Mill Reef success to score at the highest level.

  • Zafeen (2002) – St James’s Palace Stakes (2003)
  • Excellent Art (2006) – St James’s Palace Stakes (2007)
  • Dark Angel (2007) – Middle Park Stakes (2007)
  • Awzaan (2009) – Middle Park Stakes (2009)
  • Ribchester (2015) – Prix Jacques Le Marois (2016), Lockinge Stakes (2017), Queen Anne Stakes (2017), Prix du Moulin (2017)
  • Harry Angel (2016) – July Cup (2017), Haydock Sprint Cup (2017)

Field Packed with Promise in 2025

Mill Reef Stakes 2025 Betting

Whilst talented, the winners since 2017 have failed to match the level of Cartier Champion Sprinter Harry Angel, or his father Dark Angel, who is now enjoying a spectacularly successful career at stud. Whether a horse of similar calibre emerges from the 2025 edition remains to be seen, but there is no shortage of potential on show.

With the days counting down towards the big race, five of the eight-runner field are trading at a double-figure price, suggesting the prize is most likely to fall to one of the following trio.

Into The Sky

  • Trainer – Jim Boyle
  • Sire – Starman
  • Form Figures – 1

The 2021 July Cup winner Starman has made a solid start to life at stud, with his Group-winning daughters Venetian Sun and Lady Iman leading the way. Into The Sky has some way to go to hit those heights, but could hardly have made a more encouraging start.

Odds of 80/1 suggested he wasn’t showing much at home ahead of his debut at this track in August. Once underway, the Jim Boyle runner belied those odds in devastating style. Sent straight into the lead by Kieran Shoemark, he initially looked like a sitting duck. However, rather than being reeled in, he pulled further and further clear to score by almost eight lengths. Epsom-based Boyle began his training career in 2002 and has yet to taste Group race success. Into The Sky may represent his best chance yet.

Words Of Truth

  • Trainer – Charlie Appleby
  • Sire – Lope De Vega
  • Form Figures – 811

Unlike Boyle, Charlie Appleby is no stranger to Group success. As the number one trainer to the powerful Godolphin operation, the Newmarket handler has compiled a catalogue of high-level victories all around the world. Given that record and his strength in the juvenile division, it is a little surprising that Appleby is still seeking a first win in this race.

Words Of Truth is the horse tasked with putting that right in 2025. By Lope De Vega and out of the Group 2 winning mare Beyond Reason, he is a half-brother to Ancient Truth, who carried the Godolphin blue to victory in the 2024 Superlative Stakes. Words Of Truth looked a notch below his close relative when only fifth at this track on debut. However, the chestnut has responded positively to a gelding procedure to pick up wins at Ascot and Newmarket.

This race was mentioned in the immediate aftermath of his win at HQ, and he looks set to go well for William Buick.

Rock On Thunder

  • Trainer – Kevin Ryan
  • Sire – Night Of Thunder
  • Form Figures – 1922

Of the three runners at the head of the market, only Rock On Thunder has experience in Group 2 company. Kicking off with a maiden win at Leicester, he came up short in the Coventry Stakes before finishing fourth in a Listed event over this course and distance. He will need to improve on those efforts, but arrives on the back of a career-best runner-up effort in the Gimcrack Stakes at York. Clearly heading in the right direction, the Night Of Thunder colt won’t need to find much more to make his presence felt.

Of the trainers on show, only Andrew Balding and Karl Burke boast a previous win in this race, but the market suggests they are up against it in 2025. Balding is represented by Sands Of Spain, while Burke turns to Gold Queen Kindly. Will either cause a shock in a race that has favoured the market leader in recent years?