CHARLIE Appleby is hoping that Shadow Of Light can provide him with a third 2000 Guineas success in four years after Godolphin’s homebred star colt was crowned Europe’s champion two-year-old of 2024 this week.

The son of Lope De Vega became only the 11th horse in history to complete the Middle Park-Dewhurst Stakes double last season and was confirmed to hold a rating of 120 at Tuesday’s European Two-Year-Old Classification.

That put him 1lb in front of the brilliant Lake Victoria (119), who pulled off a rare top-level treble between the Moyglare Stud Stakes, Cheveley Park Stakes and Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies’ Turf for Aidan O’Brien last autumn. The Ballydoyle team also supplied the second highest-rated colts in the annual standings, with Acomb Stakes winner The Lion In Winter and Dewhurst second Expanded each rated 118.

Fillies’ Mile heroine Desert Flower and Dewhurst third Ancient Truth cemented a fine season’s work for the Appleby-Godolphin two-year-old team by featuring next in the classification on 117. The pair were joined on that rating by Jessica Harrington’s Futurity Trophy winner Hotazhell and Joseph O’Brien’s National Stakes scorer Scorthy Champ.

Speaking at a joint press call between the British Horseracing Authority and Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board after the end-of-year European rankings were published, Appleby said: “It’s very exciting for us to have a horse like Shadow Of Light. On what he’s achieved to date and the fact he’s closely related to a horse of Earthlight’s calibre, it gives substance to it all.

Newmarket plan

“I’d imagine he’ll go straight into a Guineas. I don’t really want to test him over the mile beforehand, firstly timing-wise and secondly I’d rather keep our powder dry and the dream alive going into the Guineas. It’s very exciting for us to have a horse like him.

“On the evidence of what we saw at the back-end of last season, the way this horse relaxes and his mannerisms, he gives himself the best chance to see out a mile. There’ll always be question marks on the back of some of his pedigree, but if you actually dig into it there’s enough substance there to say a mile should be within his compass.

“If by chance that we don’t see the mile out, then dropping back to the sprinting division will be our second option.”

On how the top-priced 10/1 shot for Guineas glory has developed physically, Appleby added: “I’m very pleased. He was a strong individual at two, short-coupled, but he’s lengthened. As a physical, you’d have a job to knock him. He looks great in his coat and has done all the maturing you’d want to see from two to three at this stage. I can’t knock him. With a clear run into the Guineas, you’d have a job to knock him in the paddock, that’s for sure.”

Only twice has there been a lower rated champion juvenile since the classification began in the late 1970s, though BHA handicapping team leader Graeme Smith described 2024 as a “strong year for juvenile fillies”.

Smith noted: “A total of 12 fillies in the classification is the highest number since 2017 and Lake Victoria, at a rating of 119, is the top-rated two-year-old filly in Europe since Lady Aurelia at 121 in 2016.”