Marten Julian’s Weekly Roundup 3 November 2025

There were points of interest for us all over the place this weekend, with everything from a modest 0-60 nursery on Friday at Southwell to the razzmatazz of the Breeders’ Cup at Del Mar.

It’s a reflection of the rich variety of the current racing scene that having dominated the jumps season in both Ireland and the UK, Willie Mullins should land the Breeders’ Cup Turf with a horse who just over six months ago had finished seventh in the Scottish Champion Hurdle.

As for the nursery at Southwell, the betting perfectly illustrated the point I raised here last week regarding the identity of the people who, the evening before, had supported Mali Star on Bet 365 from 10/1 down to, at one stage, 2/1.

Having led with my thoughts about the horse in my Look Ahead feature of the Weekend Card, I suspect my readers could have been the source of interest, albeit made up of a number of small bets rather than, for example, a well-connected big hitter.

The early market moves give the bookmakers the opportunity to get an early sight of the horses that are likely to attract interest, but the significant money is placed a few minutes before flagfall. In the case of Mali Star, his price remained quite steady at around 100/30.

As things turned out the son of Sands Of Mali never managed to get into a challenging position and stayed on from off the pace to finish a never-nearer fifth, beaten three and three-quarter lengths.

Mali Star will drop a pound or two following this and he is worth keeping an eye on for a similar race, possibly over ten furlongs.

Now from Southwell to Del Mar, California, and the performance of Ethical Diamond in the Breeders’ Cup Turf. Willie Mullins had told everyone that he thought that they could be competing for fifth or sixth, but as the field turned for home it was apparent that Ethical Diamond was accelerating much faster than his rivals with a momentum that carried him to the front, to win in a course record time.

Rated on 112 for this race, having beaten the 122-rated Rebel’s Romance he can expect to be raised to around 120.

Ethical Diamond, who wasn’t cheap when acquired by Harold Kirk and Willie Mullins for 320,000 guineas in July 2023, had won the Duke Of Edinburgh Stakes and Ebor in the summer and it was his experience of competitive fields that served him so well on Saturday.

It’s the final edition of the Weekend Card this week and I have asked our writers to nominate ante-post suggestions for Cheltenham and for next season’s Classics, as well as horses of interest in the coming months. It should prove a valuable source of reference.

Bye for now

Why wait a week? Receive Marten’s free horse racing publication Weekly Roundup, the day it is written in full for free every Monday evening by clicking here & signing up for our free Newsletter

© Copyright in all Marten Julian Publications is strictly reserved by the publishers. No material therein may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without written permission from Marten Julian.