By Tom Frary
Emulating his full-brother Holloway Boy, Wathnan's Humidity (Ulysses) was in command in Saturday's Listed Chesham Stakes at Royal Ascot. Unlike his sibling who took this on debut in 2022, the Andrew Balding-trained chestnut had the benefit of a previous outing having won over six furlongs at Newbury last month and was professional in front from the outset under James Doyle. Tackled by Ballydoyle's Moments Of Joy (Justify) and then Thesecretadversary (St Mark's Basilica) at the business end, the 4-1 shot beat the latter by a length, with Moments Of Joy 1 1/4 lengths away in third.
Andrew Balding revealed the yard's confidence beforehand. “This is the horse that we had the highest hopes for this week, so I am delighted he has got the job done,” he said. “He is just a lovely horse to have in the yard. I am a big fan of Ulysses–I think he's an underrated stallion, so this is good for him. We have a couple of other nice horses by him and Humidity is an absolute dude.”
“He had to battle hard today,” he added. “He has done nothing wrong and I would hope that he will stay further, but he is not short of speed either. He is so laidback. This was always the plan and we will now work back from something nice in the autumn. I think he could be a Guineas horse. He is not short of speed and has a lovely long stride. I think he has a bright future.”
James Doyle added, “I remember that, when it was spoken about that this fella being on the radar, I texted Oisin to ask what he was like and he just texted me the rocket emoji back, so I was a bit excited when he said that! He has a beautiful pedigree and was bred to do today's job, but he feels like he will keep improving. He has a beautiful action. I said to Andrew that I perhaps went a click too slow, because when they started to quicken he took three or four strides to stretch. Then once he started stretching, he was away, so I will bear that in mind for the future.”
Wathnan had purchased Humidity from Cheveley Park Stud after his debut and Richard Brown was quick to pay tribute to the breeders. “I would just like to say huge congratulations to Mrs Thompson, Cheveley Park Stud and Chris Richardson,” he said. “They sell a lot of their colts as yearlings, so we thought it was worth an approach and luckily they agreed to sell Humidity to us. He walked round here like an old pro.”
Thesecretadversary is one of very few runners so far for St Mark's Basilica and the colt who was second to Wootton Bassett's TDN Rising Star Italy at Leopardstown went close to pulling off a major coup for the Coolmore freshman here. “He has been very straightforward. He has always looked a bit above-average from the minute we started doing a bit with him,” trainer Fozzy Stack said. “I know he is quite colourful, but he is actually a very good model.”
“Seamie [Heffernan] was delighted with him. He said he has the pace of a good horse and feels he will mature in time,” he added. “We have all the options. We can run him back in a maiden or keep pitching in at a higher level. We will see.”
GUTSY! HUMIDITY WINS THE CHESHAM STAKES! #ROYALASCOT pic.twitter.com/l2smJPUcbj
— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) June 21, 2025
Humidity's aforementioned full-brother Holloway Boy went on to win the G3 Superior Mile and finish placed in the G1 Futurity Trophy and G1 Jebel Hatta. The unraced dam Sultry (Pivotal) is kin to the Listed Harry Rosebery Stakes-placed Secret Venture by Pivotal's Kyllachy, while the third dam is the G1 Cheveley Park Stakes-winning champion Gay Gallanta (Woodman) who produced the dual Group 2 winner and G1 Poule d'Essai des Poulains-placed Byron (Green Desert). Sultry's yearling filly is by Palace Pier.
Saturday, Ascot, Britain
CHESHAM STAKES-Listed, £110,000, Ascot, 6-21, 2yo, 7fT, 1:27.09, g/f.
1–HUMIDITY (GB), 131, c, 2, by Ulysses (Ire)
1st Dam: Sultry (GB), by Pivotal (GB)
2nd Dam: Resort (GB), by Oasis Dream (GB)
3rd Dam: Gay Gallanta, by Woodman
1ST BLACK-TYPE WIN. (120,000gns RNA Ylg '24 TATOCT). O-Wathnan Racing; B-Cheveley Park Stud Ltd; T-Andrew Balding; J-James Doyle. £62,381. Lifetime Record: 2-2-0-0, $92,522. *Full to Holloway Boy (GB), GSW & G1SP-Eng, G1SP-UAE, $494,349.
2–Thesecretadversary (Ire), 131, c, 2, St Mark's Basilica (Fr)–Too Soon To Panic (Ire), by Gleneagles (Ire). 1ST BLACK TYPE. O-Cayton Park Stud & Mrs John Magnier; B-Coolmore & Cayton Park Stud; T-Fozzy Stack. £23,650.
3–Moments Of Joy, 126, f, 2, Justify–Shell House (Ire), by Galileo (Ire). 1ST BLACK TYPE. O-Mrs John Magnier, Michael Tabor & Derrick Smith; B-Orpendale, Chelston & Wynatt (KY); T-Aidan O'Brien. £11,836.
Margins: 1, 1 1/4, NO. Odds: 4.00, 12.00, 3.33.
Also Ran: Venetian Lace (Ire), Treanmor (Ire), Tailgunner Joe, Waterford Castle (Ire), Brave Hunter (GB), Zooter (GB).
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