Marten Julian’s Weekly Roundup 15 June 2026

It may seem perverse to bring to your notice an observation about a 25-rated maiden on the eve of the world’s most prestigious week of flat racing, but I believe the circumstances relating to Rockafeller Skank warrant a mention for a number of reasons.

The three-year-old gelding, who carries the name of a dance hit of the late 90s by Fatboy Slim, is trained by Richard Spencer for Phil Cunningham.

Last season in three starts he finished last of seven, last of 11 and last of 15, beaten an aggregate of 91 lengths at odds of 11/1, 80/1 and 300/1. He was, though, one of two horses in the yard to receive a Group entry, in his case the Champagne Stakes.

Although this profile would be all too familiar to followers of Sir Mark Prescott’s stable, in his case his unexposed horses are generally not rated much below the mid-50s, and usually higher.

However, without going into the minutiae of the form of Rockafeller Skank’s three races, the handicapper decided to give him a mark of just 25.

Appearing in a 0-50 classified stakes at Yarmouth last Wednesday, I was able to bring him to the notice of my clients, having seen overnight support for him from around 6/1 to 5/2. This was despite him being rated 20lbs or more lower than his rivals.

As the race-time approached his price lengthened back out to 6/1. In the race he did well to overcome some bumping and barging a quarter of a mile from home to pull clear and win by two and a quarter lengths.

His entry for another 0-50 at the same track the following day reflected intent on the part of connections and this time, starting a very well-supported 8/13, he won over a longer trip eased down by a length and a quarter.

He is expected to race again at Wolverhampton on Tuesday (7.45), where a 12lbs penalty leaves him on 37 … still the lowest rating in the field. He then has entries for another 0-50 classified stakes at Lingfield on Thursday and then a 1m 4f 0-70 handicap at Goodwood and a 1m 0-70 handicap at Newmarket on Friday.

In both the handicaps he will be out of the weights, even allowing for the additional penalty if he wins on Tuesday. However, I suggest that he will still be hard to beat, although I would have a slight concern over his stamina over a mile and a half, as his distaff side is speedy.

Now for some brief observations.

The Champagne Stakes entry suggested that the trainer believed the horse was at least useful. I am assuming here that this was not a ruse to convince the stewards that they thought the horse had ability if they were to land a touch following some unrevealing runs.

Second, the son of Supremacy was not cheap, costing £100,000 at Goffs as a yearling. As I’ve said on many occasions in the past, no trainer with any sense of integrity would let an owner keep a horse in the yard at great expense if 25 were an accurate measure if its potential ability.

Third, the trainer must have spotted this window of opportunity for a clutch of appropriate races some while ago. Incidentally, he is currently enjoying a wonderful spell of form, with seven of his last 16 runners winning at a strike-rate of 44 per cent (up to and including Sunday).

Owner Phil Cunningham has put an enormous amount of work and money into the business and is to be commended for his endeavours. I have to confess that I have not had his trainer marked down for specific interest before now, but that certainly won’t be the case from herein.

Of course, the thing I’d really like to know is if they backed him last week. Time may show him to have been one of the best bets for a while in Wednesday’s 0-50 classified stakes, albeit up to 25lbs wrong with his rivals.

His exploits this week will provide an intriguing distraction from the events taking place in Berkshire.

Bye for now

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