The Irish Guineas meeting dominates the weekend racing schedule as Field Of Gold and Lake Victoria bid to bounce back from Newmarket disappointment. However, it isn’t all about the action on the Emerald Isle. The pick of the British fare comes on Merseyside as Haydock stages the 2025 Temple Stakes.
First run in 1965 and a Group 2 contest since 2015, this fast and furious 5f affair offers £125,000 in prize money – over £70,000 of which goes to the winner. Following the final declarations on Thursday morning, 11 speedballs remain in contention, including a trio of eye-catching challengers.
Rum to Star for Portman
First setting out as a trainer in 1998, Lambourn-based Jonathan Portman has a string of notable successes on his CV. Annectdote, Royal Razalma, Mrs Danvers, and Rumstar have all taken the handler to the Group 3 winners enclosure. However, that is as high as Portman has climbed, with a win at Group 2 level or above proving elusive.
If the market is to be believed, that may change in 2025, as Rumstar currently tops the Temple Stakes market. Now five years old, this son of Havana Grey showed immense promise during a productive juvenile campaign, culminating in a Group 3 success in the Cornwallis Stakes. Then followed an extended spell in the doldrums, with the speedster failing to win any of his 12 starts between May 2023 and September 2024.
Encouragingly, the gelding saved his best effort until last in 2024, when belatedly bouncing back to form to claim the Listed Rous Stakes at Ascot. Did that effort suggest a more productive 2025 may lie ahead? The early evidence suggests as much, with Rumstar carrying on where he left off to claim a second career Group 3 in the Palace House Stakes on his seasonal return.
Rumstar comes home best to land the Palace House Stakes!🏆 pic.twitter.com/yYL4nda2UJ
— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) May 3, 2025
Could Rumstar be the horse to finally land that longed for Group 2 success? His trainer certainly hopes so, with Portman stating:
“It would be special to win. I don’t think we’ve ever had a runner in a Group 2. Obviously I want to win a Group 1, but I wouldn’t complain about a Group 2.”
Astonishing Affair Continues to Climb
Heading up the opposition is one of the most improved sprinters in training. Having broken his duck at the third time of asking in 2023, the Jim Goldie-trained American Affair was handed an initial mark of 73. Five starts and five defeats later, that rating had slumped to a distinctly average 67.
Fast forward to May 2025, and the son of Washington DC is a leading contender for a Group 2 contest, with his rating having skyrocketed to 105. It’s hard to disagree with his handler when Goldie states:
“He’s been a bit of a revelation.”
Only outside the first three once in eight outings last season, he picked up wins at Musselburgh, Thirsk, and Doncaster before heading off onto his winter break. Impressive as 2024 was, the five-year-old has scaled new heights in 2025. Kicking off with a win in the Scottish Sprint Cup, he then made an excellent impression of a Group horse in a handicap when claiming the Lindum York Handicap at the Dante Festival.
American Affair lands the day-two opener!
The progressive five-year-old beats 17 rivals to land the £60,000 Lindum York Handicap for @PMulrennan and @JimGoldieRacing @yorkracecourse pic.twitter.com/INAgFAEqMe
— Racing TV (@RacingTV) May 15, 2025
Much like Portman, Goldie has amassed a series of Group 3 victories but has yet to hit the Group 2 target. If he continues on his upward trajectory, American Affair may be the horse to put that right.
Breeders Cup Hero Makes Seasonal Return
With 11 Group/Graded triumphs, 2024 was a year to remember for Kimpton handler Ralph Beckett. Bluestocking provided the big highlight when claiming the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, whilst the fifth of Beckett’s top-tier victories arrived in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint.
The Temple Stakes has now been confirmed as the return date for the horse who put Beckett’s name up in lights in the land of the stars and stripes. Now four years of age, Starlust is set to take his place in the lineup. Third in the Group 1 Nunthorpe Stakes before that 34/1 shock success at Del Mar, he’s 6lb clear of the field on ratings but must shoulder a 5lb penalty for his US exploits.
French Recruit Adds to Deep Field
Of the others in the final field, Electric Storm catches the eye as the only horse with a previous win at the track, while Washington Heights is no stranger to Group 1 company and may fare better than when fourth behind Rumstar in the Palace House Stakes.
All have claims, but one of the most interesting runners is the Ed Walker-trained Mgheera. Formerly based in France, this mare only arrived at Walker’s Lambourn operation in April but appears to have settled into her new surroundings rather well. Sent back to France for her yard debut, she showed a blistering turn of foot to claim the Group 3 Prix de Saint-Georges. Already being nibbled in the market, she is now the clear second favourite behind Rumstar.
Won by sprinting luminaries Loch Song and Battaash in previous years, it will be a surprise if there is anything of that calibre in this year’s field. Nevertheless, the 2025 Temple Stakes is a race crammed with intrigue. Tune in at 3:30 pm on Saturday to find out who comes out on top.