Opera Ballo, a Godolphin-owned debut winner for trainer
Charlie Appleby, was the 3-5 favorite in early international betting for Wednesday’s US$75,873
Conditions Stakes, a points prep at Kempton Park, England, on the Euro-Mideast
road to Kentucky Derby 2025.

The one-mile race around one right turn on the Polytrack course drew six 3-year-olds,
none of whom was among the early nominees for the U.S. Triple Crown.

A US$630,000 Ghaiyyath colt, Opera Ballo was forward early when
he won his debut by 8 1/2 lengths as the 1-2 favorite in a Jan. 25 maiden test
over the same course and distance as Wednesday’s race. Bred in Ireland, he will
be ridden from post 3 by William Buick.

Saddadd, a Pinatubo colt who was bred in Ireland by
Godolphin, rallied to win his first race by 2 3/4 lengths Dec. 14 going a mile
on the synthetic surface at Southwell. Owned by Sheikh Ahmed al Maktoum and
trained by Roger Varian, the early 7-2 second choice will carry Jack Mitchell
from post 6.

After finishing third in his seven-furlong turf debut Sept.
18 at Sandown, France-bred Quai De Bethune switched to the Kempton synthetic
mile to break his maiden Jan. 29 by 2 3/4 lengths racing near the lead
throughout. Owned by Gary Gillies with U.S.-based partner Team Valor buying a
share last month, the Persian King colt was 5-1 in early betting. Trained by Andrew
Balding, Quai De Bethune will be ridden from post 5 by Oisín Murphy.

Three-time, lower-class winner Molveno, 1-for-5
Appleby-trained gelding Olympus Point and well-rested sprinter Hott Shott also
were entered.

The Conditions Stakes is the fifth of seven stops on the Kentucky
Derby’s Euro-Mideast trail, which carries one invitation to the May 3 run for the
roses. It rewards 20-10-6-4-2 points to the top five finishers as does the Patton
on March 7 at Dundalk, Ireland. The April 5 UAE Derby (G2), the last race of
the Euro-Mideast series, is worth 100-50-25-15-10 points.

Carded as seventh of nine races Wednesday on a partly cloudy,
43-degree night at Kempton Park, the Conditions Stakes is scheduled to start at
2:30 p.m. EST.

Post	Silks	Horse / Sire		Trainer / Jockey	Last start	Morn. line
1 pp4		Hott Shott Too Darn Hot		Richard Hughes Finley Marsh	1st nov stks, Kem, 10/24/24 R3	6-1
Last race		1st nov stks, Kem, 10/24/24 R3
2 pp1		Molveno Almanzor		Marco Botti Marco Ghiani	1st, hcp, New, 2/1/25 R3	7-1
Last race		1st, hcp, New, 2/1/25 R3
3 pp2		Olympus Point Earthlight		Charlie Appleby James Doyle	2nd, hcp, New, 10/12/24 R6	3-1
Last race		2nd, hcp, New, 10/12/24 R6
4 pp3		Opera Ballo Ghaiyyath		Charlie Appleby William Buick	1st, mdn stks, Kem, 1/29/25 R2	8-5
Last race		1st, mdn stks, Kem, 1/29/25 R2
5 pp5		Quai De Bethune Persian King		Andrew Balding Oisín Murphy	1st, mdn stks, Kem, 1/29/25 R3	10-1
Last race		1st, mdn stks, Kem, 1/29/25 R3
6 pp6		Saddadd Pinatubo		Roger Varian Jack Mitchell	1st, mdn stks, Sou, 12/14/24 R1	6-1
Last race		1st, mdn stks, Sou, 12/14/24 R1