Orthodox Heads Eight Confirmed For Prix Morny 2026

Prix Morny 2026 Field Takes Shape

Eight two-year-olds were declared for the Gr.1 Prix Morny at Deauville on 23 August 2026, headed by Gr.2 Norfolk Stakes winner Orthodox and Gr.2 Coventry Stakes winner Great Barrier Reef.

The eight-runner field marks a considerable reduction from the 37 entries recorded at the acceptance stage, with Aidan O'Brien the only trainer to carry more than one runner into the race, saddling Great Barrier Reef, Man's Best Friend and Carry The Flag. Among those from the wider entry list not among the final eight are Godolphin's Al Hudaiba and Inner City Blues, Wathnan Racing's Ruler's Pride and Light Of Dawn, both trained by Karl Burke, and J Reynier's Aibar. Al Hudaiba, Godolphin's leading hope at the acceptance stage, was beaten only a short head into third in a Gr.2 juvenile event at Goodwood on 28 July 2026 before being among those not taken forward to the final field, while Ruler's Pride, representing Wathnan Racing, had won his 5f maiden debut at Ayr on 20 May 2026 before finishing sixth in the Coventry Stakes. The wider entry list also included the O'Brien-trained quartet of Abraham Lincoln, King Of Cloughan, Confucius and Ruler's Control, none of whom were taken forward to Sunday's final field.

The Gr.1 Prix Morny is run over 1,200 metres on the Deauville straight course under Set Weight conditions for 2YO colts and fillies, with colts carrying 9st 0lb and fillies 8st 10lb, and carries total prize money of US$457,800 (€420,000) including the owner premium, US$381,500 (€350,000) at base level, with placings paid from US$261,587 (€239,988) for the winner down to US$13,093 (€12,012) for fifth. Aidan O'Brien, Clive Cox, Simon and Ed Crisford and A&L Fabre are among the trainers represented in the eight-runner field.

Orthodox, a son of Havana Grey trained by Clive Cox in Lambourn, built on a winning debut at Salisbury with a Gr.2 Norfolk Stakes victory at Royal Ascot, and arrives at Deauville having missed an intended prep run in the Gr.2 Prix Robert Papin at Chantilly because of an unsatisfactory scope, a routine endoscopic check of a horse's airway, in the week before that race. Rossa Ryan takes the ride after a 28-day suspension was reduced to 10 days, and Cox, who won this race with Reckless Abandon in 2012, said, “He's been training well and we're looking forward to the Morny as long as all goes well in the meantime.” Orthodox carries a Racing Post Rating of 123 into the race, level with Senorita Bonita and behind only Kosuma on 124.
Cox saddled Coppull to a fifth-place finish behind Venetian Sun in last year's renewal, and Orthodox now arrives as the yard's leading representative in the race twelve months on.

Coventry Form Returns For Reef

Great Barrier Reef, trained by Aidan O'Brien for the ownership of Smith, Magnier, Tabor and Westerberg, arrives off a half-length victory over Adaay Of Scarlett in the Gr.2 Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot on 16 June 2026, a result that followed an unbeaten campaign taking in a Curragh maiden on 19 April 2026 and the Gr.3 Marble Hill Stakes on 24 May 2026, in which he beat Soldier Of The Sea and Supreme Lord. Wayne Lordan takes the ride at Deauville, and connections have kept faith with black type company at every start since his Curragh maiden debut, with the colt unbeaten in three starts this season.

Man's Best Friend, winner of the Richmond Stakes and partnered by Ryan Moore, and Carry The Flag, ridden by Ronan Whelan, complete O'Brien's three-strong team, giving the Ballydoyle trainer the deepest hand in the field alongside Cox's Orthodox. Man's Best Friend's Richmond Stakes success came at Goodwood before he was stepped up into Group One company for Deauville, while Carry The Flag adds a third string to the O'Brien team.

Senorita Bonita provides the leading filly, trained by Simon and Ed Crisford for owner Victorious Forever after being bought for US$1.1 million (900,000gns) by Stroud Coleman Bloodstock at the Tattersalls Craven Breeze-Up Sale. She beat the Gr.3 Albany Stakes winner Libertango by three-quarters of a length in the Gr.2 Duchess of Cambridge Stakes at Newmarket in July, with Ed Crisford saying afterwards, “Her turn of foot was electric today.” Oisin Murphy takes the ride again in France.

French Challenge Led By Kosuma

The home challenge is led by Kosuma, trained by A&L Fabre for Wertheimer et Frere and ridden by Maxime Guyon, fresh from a one-and-a-half-length victory in the Gr.3 Prix de Cabourg at Deauville. Drazinda, trained by F-H Graffard and partnered by Mickael Barzalona, offers a second French filly in the field. No French-trained horse has won the Prix Morny since Earthlight in 2019, and Kosuma and Drazinda represent the home team's best chance of ending that run. Wertheimer et Frere, the colours Kosuma carries, is one of French racing's most established owner-breeding operations.

Tribeca, trained by Robson De Aguiar and ridden by Pierre-Charles Boudot, completes the field on the lowest Racing Post Rating of the eight, 109. Deauville's going was rated soft in the latest report, a surface that Campanelle handled to beat eight opponents when winning the race for Wesley Ward in 2020.

First run in 1865 and named after Deauville's founder Auguste de Morny, the Prix Morny was not run between 1914 and 1918, or in 1940, with wartime disruption also seeing it relocated to Longchamp for several editions in the early 1940s. Georges Stern rode ten winners of the race, more than any other jockey, while past winners including Vandeek, Blackbeard and Perfect Power have gone on to further Group One success. The race traditionally forms the finale of Deauville's Barriere meeting each August, sharing the card with the Group One Prix Jean Romanet for older fillies and mares. Last year's edition was won by Venetian Sun, trained by Karl Burke, from Gstaad and Wise Approach.

By Racing Post Rating, Kosuma is the highest-rated runner on 124, with Orthodox and Senorita Bonita tied on 123, Man's Best Friend and Great Barrier Reef on 120, Drazinda on 119, Carry The Flag on 112 and Tribeca on 109.

Sunday's renewal traditionally closes Deauville's August meeting and, on the ratings gathered here, gives connections across Europe their clearest form guide yet for the remainder of the juvenile season.

Prix Morny: 23 August 2026 | GROUP 1 | FOR 2YO | Thoroughbred | Turf | Straight | 1,200m | Going: Soft | Set Weight: colts 9st 0lb, fillies 8st 10lb | US$457,800 (€420,000) (with owner premium) / US$381,500 (€350,000) base | Rail Position: NA | Safety Limit: NA | Track Record: NA | Post Time: NA | Prize Breakdown: 1st US$261,587 (€239,988.00) | 2nd US$104,653 (€96,012.00) | 3rd US$52,327 (€48,006.00) | 4th US$26,140 (€23,982.00) | 5th US$13,093 (€12,012.00) (with Allocation + Prime Propriétaire)

Contenders — Confirmed Field Of Eight
Prix Morny: Orthodox (T: Clive Cox / J: Rossa Ryan / RPR: 123) | Man's Best Friend (T: Aidan O'Brien / J: Ryan Moore / RPR: 120) | Senorita Bonita (T: Simon & Ed Crisford / J: Oisin Murphy / RPR: 123) | Kosuma (T: A&L Fabre / J: Maxime Guyon / RPR: 124) | Great Barrier Reef (T: Aidan O'Brien / J: Wayne Lordan / RPR: 120) | Drazinda (T: F-H Graffard / J: Mickael Barzalona / RPR: 119) | Carry The Flag (T: Aidan O'Brien / J: Ronan Whelan / RPR: 112) | Tribeca (T: Robson De Aguiar / J: Pierre-Charles Boudot / RPR: 109)