A King Of Magic

He is trained by Paul Nicholls at Ditcheat in Somerset, one of the most successful training operations in Britain. Nicholls' yard has sent out 92 winners already this season alone, so A King Of Magic is operating in serious company behind the scenes. His recent form makes for encouraging reading: across his last six races, he has finished 3rd, 4th, 5th, 1st, 2nd, and 1st — a sequence that shows a horse improving through the ranks before hitting his stride at exactly the right moment.

His first win came at Taunton on 12 February 2026, and it was tight. Paddy Brennan, representing the owners that day, admitted afterwards that a couple of strides earlier they would not have got there at all. What is striking about his account is the philosophy behind it — the team were not just chasing the win, they wanted to see the horse finish well first, learn to gallop out properly to the line. That patience paid off perfectly. There had been a temptation from Paul Nicholls to step the horse up in distance, but the decision was made to stay at the shorter trip for now, trust the process, and see what they had. What they had, it turned out, was a winner.

Then came Perth on 23 April 2026 — just this week, in fact, with A King Of Magic having raced only yesterday. Back-to-back wins at different venues show a horse that is not just a one-track wonder or a horse who fluked it once. He is building momentum at exactly the right time of the season. That progression from a horse who ran green and tired in his early outings — needing time and distance to grow into — to a genuine back-to-back winner at five years old is the kind of trajectory that gets people around the yard quietly excited.