Which Horses Will Win the Biggest Races in 2024?
Horse racing fans have plenty to look forward to in 2024, with the upcoming calendar packed with a ton of top-class action taking place across the world.
Next year undoubtedly looks exciting in the United Kingdom and Ireland, with top trainer Aidan O’Brien set to unleash a horse that looks to be a potential superstar.
Australian horse racing fans also have a stellar year lined up, with the Melbourne Cup at Flemington Racecourse in November the undoubted highlight.
Picking the potential winners of races this far in advance is no easy task, so punters would be well advised to ensure they keep a close eye on respected tipping sites.
When it comes to reliable information, whether you are looking for horse racing tips tomorrow or a little further down the line, OnlyRacing.com.au has all the bases covered.
With that mind, we take a closer look at two horses we believe will deliver sizeable winning returns to punters when they contest the biggest races in 2024.
City of Troy – Epsom Derby
O’Brien spoke in glowing terms about City of Troy after the horse produced a devasting performance to turn the Dewhurst Stakes at Newmarket Racecourse into a procession last month.
The son of Justify is now odds-on with some betting firms to win next year’s 2000 Guineas at the same venue, while he is priced at 3.50 to win the Epsom Derby.
O’Brien says that City of Troy is ‘the best two-year-old he had ever trained’ – high praise given the number of quality performers he has previously had in his stable.
Timeform handicapper Simon Baker gave the horse a rating of 125p after that victory, which places him in the same bracket as a previous superstar of the sport.
“City of Troy’s Dewhurst win was the best performance in the race since Frankel, and while we could wait a lifetime and not see anything in that league again, there can be no doubt that City of Troy is a tremendous prospect in his own right,” Baker said.
“Not all recent high-achieving Dewhurst winners have advanced their form markedly at three, but everything about City of Troy, from his powerful physique to his strong-galloping style, suggests he can go on improving, which makes him just about the most exciting horse around for 2024.”
Balance Play – Melbourne Cup
The recent Tattersalls Autumn Horses in Training Sale at Newmarket may well have produced an early pointer for a potential winner of the 2024 Melbourne Cup.
Balance Play was bought by McKeever Bloodstock, Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott for AU$1.155 million and has been touted as an ideal candidate for ‘the race that stops the nation’.
The horse was rated 101 going into the session, having won three of his six starts in high-class handicaps during his three-year-old campaign.
Balance Play is from the same family as Bauer, who famously missed out on winning the 2008 Melbourne Cup by a nose for trainer Luca Cumani.
Claudia Miller, bloodstock manager for Tulloch Lodge, says she was under ‘strict instructions’ not to leave the sale without the horse and was delighted when the hammer came down.
“He is a lovely three-year-old – lightly raced, very consistent and effective on all going,” Miller said. “He is just the exact profile of the horse we look for at this sale. We are very excited to get him.”