Champagne scorer Bay City Roller set for winter break

Bay City Roller will not race again this season, with connections heading into the winter with Classic aspirations for their unbeaten Champagne Stakes hero.

George Scott’s colt has caught the eye when winning novice events at Sandown and Chelmsford, but announced himself as a youngster on the rise when claiming Doncaster’s juvenile Group Two on St Leger day.

The Newmarket-based trainer had mooted a crack at Group One level in Sunday’s Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere at ParisLongchamp, while Bay City Roller also holds entries for the Darley Dewhurst Stakes and Futurity Trophy on home soil.

However, connections have decided to pull stumps on his perfect juvenile career, eager to not push too many buttons ahead of an anticipated Classic campaign in 2025.

“We’re not going to France and he is finished for the season,” said Scott.

“We’re really pleased with what he has achieved this year and we feel with his pedigree and his physical, he is going to be a better horse next year and we were just conscious to not over-race him this season.

“We love his attitude and he’s only beaten what we have put him up against, but the dream for next year is very much alive. He has a kind of late-maturing pedigree as well, so we’ve got a lot to look forward to with him.”

Although a possible for a Guineas in the early stages of next season, Bay City Roller can be backed at 40-1 with Paddy Power for next year’s Derby, with Scott eager to test the son of New Bay’s Epsom credentials at the earliest opportunity.

Scott added: “We might think about something like the Greenham for him or maybe straight to a French or English Guineas.

“But we would really like to try him in a Derby trial as well in the spring because I am quite keen to determine if he is going to be a Derby horse early on in the year, rather than spending too much time working out his trip.”