The William Hill Bill Turner Memorial EBF Brocklesby Stakes is the standard opener for the British turf Flat season. Kitty Trice analyzes the pedigrees of the four likeliest competitors for the two-year-old contest.

4. Dance A Jig

A homebred for Jeff Smith's Littleton Stud, Dance A Jig comes from the very first crop of Darley's Jubilee Stakes hero Naval Crown. The Ralph Beckett-trained juvenile runs out Strictly Dancing, a winner over 6 furlongs as a three-year-old and a Danehill Dancer daughter of Nunthorpe heroine Lochangel, in turn a half-sister to champion sprinter Lochsong.

Strictly Dancing has actually produced a number of winners including Dancing Star, a winner of her 2nd start at two and a Group 3 scorer as an older entertainer, plus Foxtrot Lady, herself a Pattern scorer at 5. Those 2 fillies coincidentally landed the same race, the Sceptre Fillies' Stakes, for Andrew Balding.

3. Step To Glory

Dylan Cunha won this contest in 2024 with Zminiature and he saddles one of the bigger-priced runners in Step To Glory this time around.

Bred by Tally-Ho-Stud, the Cotai Glory colt has lots of speed in his pedigree, being out of a Kodiac half-sister to five-furlong Group 3 winner Hurricane Ivor. The family also includes fellow Group-winning sprinter Mirza, along with Millyant, whose victories consisted of the Prix du Gros-Chene and Molecomb Stakes.

2. Blixen Force

Amo Racing have won this contest in two of the last four years, including with Persian Force in 2022. The subsequent July now stands at Tally-Ho and is represented by his first two-year-old runners this year, consisting of Blixen Force and fellow Amo-owned Ocean Club.

Blixen Force is the very first foal out of Showcasing mare Baroness Blixen, a sis to Show Me Show Me, who was third in the Molecomb Stakes and won the Brocklesby in 2019. Baroness Blixen's own dam, Springing Baroness, is a half-sister to Toocoolforschool, a Group 2 winner as a juvenile when landing the Mill Reef Stakes.

1. Arrbob

The Richard and Peter Fahey-trained colt is by a tested source of gifted juveniles in Ardad, the sire of Middle Park Stakes and Prix Morny victor Perfect Power to name a few. He also has lots of speed on his dam's side, running out an Equiano sis to Hackwood Stakes winner and Haydock Sprint Cup runner-up Strath Burn.

Richard Fahey has won this race 4 times, most recently in 2019 with Show Me Show Me and Requinto Dawn in 2017, and this colt looks overpriced in a contest in which there is no racecourse kind to go on.

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