Desert Castle faces small but select Dewhurst field Charlie Appleby’s Desert Castle will aim to preserve his unbeaten record against four rivals in the Darley Dewhurst Stakes at Newmarket on Saturday. An impressive debut winner in August, he oozed class when sprinting clear to win the Champagne Stakes at Doncaster last time out. Appleby is aiming for a fourth win since 2019 in the Group One contest, which usually goes a long way to deciding the leading juvenile of the season. Jassas will also carry the Godolphin blue having won two of his three outings to date. Aidan O’Brien is strongly represented, with Darkness Falls his number one contender. He was a wide-margin winner of a Group One at the Irish Champions Festival, although that was over nine furlongs and he drops a quarter of a mile in trip this time. Darkness Falls is joined by stablemate Great Barrier Reef, a Royal Ascot winner who was beaten on his return to action after a lengthy break. The only contender not running for Coolmore or Godolphin is Andrew Balding’s Gentle Hurricane, but he was no match for Desert Castle on Town Moor.
