Ben Solo

His trainer Rebecca Curtis, based just down the road in Newport, Pembrokeshire, clearly has a good read on this horse. When he won at Chepstow back in November 2025, she was quick to note he was still learning the job — her jockey Ben Jones described him as "green as grass" even in victory, which is trainer-speak for a horse that's running on instinct rather than experience. That's actually an encouraging thing to hear. It means there's more to come, not less. Curtis has sent out 18 winners this season, so she knows what a horse with a future looks like.

The most recent run is worth understanding properly. Ben Solo didn't finish — he unseated his rider at Chepstow over the same course and distance where he'd won the time before. Curtis was understandably frustrated: he'd done nothing wrong during the race and was handling a small rise in the weights without any signs of struggle. An unseating is essentially a freak incident, the jumping equivalent of tripping on a flat surface. It tells you very little about whether the horse is in form.

Jones has ridden him in 6 of his 15 races and won once together, a 17% win rate — better than 1 in 6 — which is a solid partnership for a horse still finding its feet over fences. Curtis has her eye on a festival race for him, though she's not certain he'll make the entry list. If he does, it would be the biggest test of his career so far.

The picture that emerges is of a horse that's taken time to mature, found a home at one track, and is ridden by a yard that genuinely believes the best is still ahead. At seven, that's not wishful thinking — it's entirely plausible.