2024 Flat Season: Tom Collins identifies seven promising horses to follow this campaign

With Aintree’s Grand National meeting and the Cheltenham Festival firmly in the rearview mirror, focus can be switched to an upcoming flat campaign that will be full of excitement.

A whole new group of fast horses will start to dominate the headlines and fill up your social media timelines, the most obvious being City Of Troy. Aidan O’Brien’s three-year-old is the equine star that everyone seems to be looking forward to this season and hopefully he will justify expectations by winning a Classic or two, perhaps even three if we are lucky. 

But punting isn’t just about following the best of the best as it’s almost impossible to find value that way. It always pays to have a list filled with unexposed horses who are likely to improve during the campaign and provide a few winning moments, so here are seven lightly raced types to kickstart your 2024 tracker.

Heat Of Passion

Trainer: Sir Mark Prescott

Form figures: 543-

I’m beginning with a slightly left-field choice. Heat Of Passion recorded a best Racing Post Rating of just 69 in her three starts last season, but she looks like a typical Sir Mark Prescott improver over longer trips in 2024 and I wouldn’t be surprised if she racked up a sequence of victories.

She reached €350,000 at the Goffs Orby Yearlings Sale in 2022, which is no surprise given her fantastic staying pedigree. Being by Dubawi out of a winning mare called Here To Eternity, Heat Of Passion is a half-sibling of Group 1 winners Time Warp and Glorious Forever, as well as Davideo and Heat And Dust. A mile and a half looks the perfect trip for her to excel.

High Order

Trainer: John & Thady Gosden

Form figures: 2-

This son of Frankel out of Dubawi mare Diploma, who won at Listed level during her racing career and has since become a successful broodmare, made a good impression on debut at Newcastle in December when finishing second under Rab Havlin.

It wasn’t much of a race - his five rivals have failed to rack up a single victory between them since - but he shaped as if he needed the experience while probably not being suited by the dash for the line after slow middle sectionals. He is another who should thrive over a mile and a half later in the year.

Kaleidoscope

Trainer: John & Thady Gosden

Form figures: 1-

By champion miler Kingman out of Group 1 Cheveley Park winner Lightening Pearl, the sky's the ceiling for Kaleidoscope. A blue-blooded pedigree doesn’t guarantee talent on the track, but she certainly looked like a future star when running home a three-length winner on debut at Lingfield in December.

I loved how she visually surged clear in the dying strides of that mile contest, posting a sub 11-second final furlong in the process, and subsequent victories for the runner-up, seventh and tenth have boosted the form. She’s currently 66/1 for the 1,000 Guineas, but she might be a longer term prospect.

Lautrec

Trainer: John & Thady Gosden

Form figures: 1-

A 600,000gns purchase, Lautrec was a late developer during his two-year-old season and only made his debut at Newcastle in November when sent off 6/4 second-favourite to beat four rivals. He travelled well during the race before briefly coming under pressure when challenging some way off the preferred rail. It looked like he would have to settle for second before he found his top stride with 20 yards to go.

I have high expectations for this son of Kingman this year and I’m really looking forward to seeing him on turf. He has an entry in the Dante next month, which is very interesting as he should be pretty effective over ten furlongs on a galloping track.

Leadman

Trainer: Andrew Balding

Form figures: 22-2

A rare four-year-old in this list, Leadman has proved a little frustrating with three runner-up finishes from as many starts but he possesses a high level of ability and can hopefully get a trouble-free season under his belt in 2024.

His debut second behind subsequent Group 1 Vertem Futurity runner-up Epictetus was extremely strong. The third home in that event was Desert Order, who is rated 95, while the fourth-placed finisher was Flying Honours, now rated 109. Unfortunately Leadman suffered an injury that led to him missing the majority of last season, but he looked to retain much of his ability on his sole 2023 start in October.

Let Life Happen

Trainer: Sir Michael Stoute

Form figures: 2221-

We definitely haven’t seen the best from this daughter of Siyouni. Sir Michael Stoute only introduced her to the track in the middle part of her three-year-old campaign and, after three second-place finishes, she duly got off the mark in emphatic fashion over 1m4f at Kempton in September.

She’s a late-developing stayer with the potential to make up into a really nice type over trips up to two miles. Her current mark of 84 is certainly workable and I wouldn’t be surprised to see her contest some nice handicaps during the autumn, especially when there is a bit of cut in the ground.

Rakki

Trainer: Alan King

Form figures: 755

Several future Group performers have been logged in this article, so I’m going to switch tack to an unexposed type who could win a couple of nice handicaps. Rakki’s pedigree screams distance (by Sea The Stars out of a mare who puts lots of stamina into her progeny) and his three runs over inadequate trips so far aren’t a fair representation of his ability.

Rakki shaped well on each occasion but just lacked the required acceleration to challenge the protagonists. The handicapper has given him a mark of just 75 and I’m convinced he will show that he is better than that over longer distances.