Blackjack

The Class 5 record is worth a closer look. Blackjack has won 4 of its 33 races at that level — roughly 1 in every 8 — which means it holds its own without dominating. The two wins at higher levels suggest there is a bit more to this horse than its usual company, but the pattern of racing tells you the team around it, trained by Alan Brown out of his yard in Yedingham, North Yorkshire, has found a sensible level where the horse is competitive without being outclassed.

Newcastle appears to hold a special place in Blackjack's story. That is where the career started, with a first win on 30 November 2021, and it is where the most recent win came too — 14 February 2025, a Valentine's Day success that now sits 14 months in the past. Whether something about the track suits this horse, or whether it is simply coincidence, Newcastle has bookended the best moments of a long career.

The recent form makes for less comfortable reading. A sequence of 6-4-9-11-7-5 in the last six races — that is finishing outside the top three each time — suggests Blackjack is currently in one of those quiet spells that older horses can drift into. Jockey Dale Swift, the most regular partner with 12 rides together, has found the winner's enclosure just once from those 12, winning roughly 1 in every 12 times they have teamed up. Alan Brown's yard has sent out 9 winners this season, so the operation is clearly functioning — Blackjack just hasn't been the one delivering them lately.

Racing yesterday, at nine years old, with 55 races on the clock — that longevity alone deserves a degree of respect. Not every horse keeps answering the call this deep into a career.