Al Hussar

What makes Al Hussar genuinely interesting is the combination of his natural speed and a trainer who clearly rates him. Grant Tuer, based near Northallerton in North Yorkshire, has sent out 26 winners this season — a yard in form — and has spoken frankly about how this horse has had a frustrating time of it. Al Hussar wants fast, dry ground and five furlongs of flat-out sprinting; that's his optimum. The problem is that when he was running well earlier in the year, the weights he had to carry in races had crept up to reflect it, making life harder. In racing, being too good too early can work against you — you get penalised for your success.

His last win came at Chester in September 2025, a tight, quirky track that rewards horses with pace and agility. Before that, his first career victory came at Doncaster in May 2024 — a track with a very different feel, long and straight, which shows he's not a one-trick pony in terms of venues. But since Chester, six races have passed without a win, and the most recent of those — a thirteenth-place finish — stands out as a rough day at the office even by the standards of a mid-season blip.

The good news is that the explanation is fairly concrete. A bout of ringworm disrupted his preparation, but he's back in work and, crucially, trainer Tuer believes the weights have come back in his favour — meaning the conditions for racing him might finally be right again. His partnership with jockey Sam James is worth noting too: together they've won 3 of their 8 races, a remarkable 38% win rate, or roughly 2 in every 5 times they've teamed up. That kind of chemistry between horse and rider matters. Al Hussar raced just yesterday, so he's very much in active campaign mode, and if fast ground arrives, he looks overdue a change of fortune.