Balding runs three in 1.15 Darley Stakes as Future Champions card opens at Newmarket

At Newmarket on 10 October 2026 the main card of the Future Champions meeting opened with the 1.15 Group Three Darley Stakes over 1m 1f, a race in which trainer Andrew Balding had three of the five runners.

Although the contest is an all-aged nine-furlong event on the main card, it carries trainers’ championship implications: a 1-2-3 for Balding would add £85,000 to his prize-money haul. The betting lists High Stock as the 14-1 outsider, with The Lost King and Humidity trading at about 7-4 and 11-4 respectively, while Boiling Point is around 7-2.

They arrive on the Rowley Mile with very different profiles. The Lost King is a four-year-old who has run 10 times this year and began his campaign on the all-weather in January; he is currently around 7-4 in the betting.

Humidity has not raced since finishing a one-length second to Bow Echo, this year’s 2,000 Guineas winner, in a Group Two here last September. The horse is priced at about 11-4, and the writer plumped for Humidity to pick up where he left off last year, though the market appears keener on The Lost King.

Boiling Point, who defied top weight to win the Cambridgeshire Handicap over track and trip last season, is also popular at around 7-2. High Stock remains the 14-1 outsider of the field.

A strong finish for Balding in the Darley Stakes would boost his trainers’ championship prize-money total by a significant margin; the race serves as the opening action on the main card of the Future Champions meeting at Newmarket.