Bleu d'Enfer

That one win arrived at Carlisle on 19 April 2025, and it stands alone as his sole career victory. He has not won in his last six races since, though his recent form — two second-place finishes among those six — suggests he is not far off. The frustrating thing for everyone involved is that he clearly knows where the finish line is; he just hasn't quite been first to it.

Donald McCain, one of the most respected names in northern jump racing and a yard that has sent out 55 winners already this season, took Bleu d'Enfer on after watching him race repeatedly and liking what he saw. McCain was blunt about it: he kept badgering trainer Stuart Crawford until a deal was done at the sales. That kind of targeted pursuit tells you something — this is not a horse picked up cheaply on a whim. McCain sees him as a proper weekend competitor, the sort built for the bigger Class 3 chases where the prize money matters. At that level, Bleu d'Enfer has won 1 from 5 races — 20%, or roughly 1 in every 5, which is actually a perfectly respectable record.

The Sefton Chase has been mentioned as a possible target, though McCain himself flagged that it might come too soon. The more telling phrase he used was "proper Saturday handicap chaser" — which in racing terms is a compliment. It means a horse good enough to fill out a card on a big afternoon, competitive without necessarily being a star. At eight years old and in the hands of a yard firing on all cylinders, Bleu d'Enfer does not need to win every week to justify his place. He just needs to find the right Saturday.