Brazen Bolt

The Goodwood win tells you a lot about where this horse has ended up. He started out winning a modest race at Newcastle back in September 2021, the kind of result that raises no eyebrows, and for much of his career he has competed at Class 4 level — the bread-and-butter middle tier of British racing — picking up 4 wins from 17 races there. But trainer Ruth Carr, who runs a busy and highly productive yard in Stillington, North Yorkshire, clearly saw something worth nurturing. Her team has sent out 63 winners already this season alone, and she has spoken openly about Brazen Bolt needing a change of scenery and some patient, careful handling before he really clicked. That investment has paid off.

What makes him particularly fun to follow is his record when conditions suit him. On normal ground he wins 5 from 13 races — that is 38%, nearly 2 in every 5, which is an exceptional conversion rate. But give him wet, soft ground and he becomes almost unbeatable: 2 wins from just 4 races on the stuff, a 50% record. He also has a soft spot for Newcastle, where he has won twice from seven visits — a track he clearly knows and enjoys. As jockey Gianluca Sanna put it after one smooth win at Thirsk, "he's an older horse and knows what he's doing."

The next chapter looks genuinely exciting. Carr has revealed that the dream target is the Dash at Epsom on Derby day — a prestigious sprint on one of racing's biggest occasions — though she knows he may need to earn his place in the field first. Goodwood in the summer is also firmly on the agenda. For a horse that had to find a new home and a new routine before he flourished, getting to race at Epsom and Goodwood in the same season would be a remarkable story.