Belcamo

Those two wins are worth looking at individually, because they came in very different circumstances. The first arrived at Goodwood in June 2024, a track with a reputation for sorting out the genuinely talented from the merely consistent. The second came at Fakenham in January 2026, in the middle of winter — a very different kind of test. Two wins, two contrasting venues, roughly eighteen months apart. It is not a horse that wins in clusters; it is a horse that waits, then pings one when conditions suit.

The distance question is interesting. At a mile and three to a mile and four furlongs, Belcamo has won 1 from 4 races — that is 25%, or one in every four attempts, which is dramatically better than its overall record. For context, at the Class 4 level where it races most often, the win rate drops to just 8% across 12 races. That gap strongly suggests the horse has genuine ability at the right trip, but has spent too much of its career racing at the wrong distance or in unsuitable conditions.

Kielan Woods has been the regular jockey, riding Belcamo nine times — and the pair have yet to win together. Nine races, zero wins. That is a striking statistic, though not necessarily a damning one; horse and jockey combinations can go long runs without winning for all sorts of reasons. Still, it is the kind of number that raises an eyebrow.

Trained by Alex Hales at his yard in Edgcote, Oxfordshire — a smaller operation that has still sent out 10 winners this season — Belcamo returns now from a 70-day break. The most recent form figures of 1-10-6-2-6-2 show a winner buried in there, along with plenty of near-misses. If the yard can get the trip right and find a suitable race, another win is not out of the question. With this horse, you just have to be patient.