Aberama Gold

The career numbers tell a story of a horse that earns his keep rather than dazzles. Ten wins and 30 places from 86 races — winning roughly 1 in every 8 — might not set pulses racing on paper, but look closer and you find a genuine big-day performer. In the summer of 2023, Aberama Gold won three times in three months at York, Goodwood, and Doncaster, all at Class 2 level — among the top races in Britain outside the very elite. The Goodwood win came in the Stewards' Cup, one of the most competitive sprint races of the season, run on ground O'Meara later described as "almost unraceable." While other horses struggled to cope, Aberama Gold flew. That is not luck — that is a horse built for conditions most others hate.

O'Meara has been refreshingly honest about what he has on his hands. After the Goodwood win he admitted he had "inherited a very good horse" from previous trainer Keith Dalgleish, and at a yard open last April he acknowledged that 2024 had been a quieter year, adding that the horse "runs himself in and out of form." The hope is that 2026 is an "in" year — and the early signs back that up. He won at Catterick Bridge just four weeks ago, his most recent victory, and his last six runs read 11-6-1-4-5-9, with that winning run right at the top.

His most trusted partner in the saddle is Daniel Tudhope, who has ridden him to 5 of his 10 career wins from 15 rides together — winning 1 in every 3 races they have shared, which is a genuinely impressive partnership rate. O'Meara's yard has been in fine form this season too, sending out 107 winners, so Aberama Gold is operating in a setup that clearly knows how to get horses fit and ready. At nine years old, with a clear preference for the conditions British summers occasionally serve up in brutal fashion, he is not finished yet.