Cadarn

Kevin Ryan has had a productive season, sending out 45 winners, and he spoke earlier this spring about hoping Cadarn had matured enough to show his best. That optimism looks justified. Cadarn picked up his first career win at Redcar in April 2025 and then went back and won there again in May — two wins at the same course in the space of a few weeks is exactly the kind of momentum that suggests a horse who has finally figured something out.

The conditions matter too. On fast, dry ground, Cadarn has won 2 of his 3 races — a remarkable 67% success rate that tells you this is a horse who wants the ground to be in his favour. Softer underfoot and he is a different proposition entirely. His preferred distance of 7 furlongs to a mile also seems to suit him well, producing both his wins in that range from 5 attempts, a 40% win rate that comfortably outstrips his overall figures.

The one puzzle in the file is that Cadarn has yet to win in four attempts at Class 5 level, which is the grade he typically competes at. Both his wins have come elsewhere on the card, which is unusual and worth keeping an eye on as the yard decide where to place him next. His recent form reads 1-12-4-13-5-14 working backwards, so the form either side of that Redcar win has been patchy, but he raced just yesterday and remains an active, current runner. The horse that turns up at Redcar on a dry day and over the right distance is a different animal to the one who disappoints elsewhere — and that, more than anything, is what makes Cadarn worth watching.