Air Force One

York is Air Force One's spiritual home. At that track, it has managed two wins from ten races, a success rate that doubles its overall average and suggests it either handles the Yorkshire track's particular demands or simply runs better when it knows the ground. That second win came just this week, on 19 August 2026, a timely reminder that despite middling form across most of its career, Air Force One can still find the line when conditions favour it. Its first career win arrived back in May 2024 at Navan, and it has been chasing that consistency ever since.

Recent form, however, tells a story of a horse struggling to maintain momentum. In its last six races, it has finished eighth, first, third, third, fifth and twelfth — the kind of erratic sequence that suggests it is as likely to disappoint as to deliver. When stepped up to Class 2 company, the top tier of racing it has encountered, Air Force One has failed to win in five attempts, a record that hints at a natural ceiling to its abilities. Geoff Oldroyd's yard at Pocklington continues to campaign the horse actively, and regular jockey P J McDonald has partnered it nine times, though their record together stands at just one win from those nine races. With Air Force One back in action just yesterday, the yard clearly believes there is more to come — even if the evidence suggests modest, York-dependent returns are the most realistic expectation.