Bellasio

Across 11 races, Bellasio has one win and seven places — a win rate of roughly 1 in every 11 races, which on the face of it looks modest. But look at the recent form and it tells a different story: five of the last six runs have produced a place, including four runner-up finishes. This is not a horse drifting through fields unnoticed. It keeps turning up in the finish, which is both encouraging and, as Tuer freely admits, deeply frustrating.

The one win came at Carlisle in June 2025, and the trainer is pointed about what it took to get there: wet, soft ground was the key ingredient. That explains the midsummer break — there is little point running a horse that wants soft underfoot when the ground is baked hard in July and August. Instead, the yard has pointed Bellasio towards autumn, when the rain returns and the season transitions onto the all-weather. It is a patient, considered plan rather than simply rolling the dice. Tuer also mentions that Bellasio carries 10 pounds in hand off his current mark — meaning if everything clicks, the handicapper has arguably not yet caught up with what this horse can do on its best day.

Oliver Stammers has ridden Bellasio in six of his 11 races and has the one win to show for it, a win rate of around 1 in 6 — strong enough to suggest the partnership works. Tuer's yard has sent out 26 winners this season already, so this is not a small operation firing blind. Bellasio's best distance appears to be seven furlongs to a mile, where he has won 1 from 5 races, a 20% win rate that outstrips his overall record by a distance.

The picture that emerges is of a horse the yard genuinely believes in, waiting on the right conditions rather than running for the sake of it. The autumn campaign, on wet ground at a distance that suits him, sets up as the moment to find out whether all those near-misses finally add up to something.