Contorno

The three-year-old, trained by Tom Tate at his Tadcaster yard in North Yorkshire, has done all of its winning at Newcastle, with both career victories coming at the same track. The first arrived on 22 January 2026, and the second followed on 12 March — about eight weeks ago now. Two wins at the same venue is not a coincidence; some horses simply take to a particular track, whether the shape of the bends, the camber, or the way the ground sits. Newcastle seems to suit Contorno in a way other courses have not.

The ground question is worth pausing on. On normal conditions, Contorno has won 2 of 3 races — that is a 67% win rate, which is extraordinary. Two wins from three attempts in the right conditions tells you the horse is not merely competitive on good ground; it is transformed by it. Keep an eye on the forecast.

The puzzle, though, is that Contorno has been running most often at Class 5 level — the lower end of the British racing ladder — and has not won any of those four attempts. Its two victories have come elsewhere in the programme. Meanwhile, its regular jockey Andrew Elliott has yet to get the combination right, with no wins from their five races together. That is not a damning verdict on either horse or rider, but it is a pattern worth noting.

Tom Tate's yard has sent out four winners this season, so Contorno accounts for half of them — a meaningful contribution from a relatively young horse that only raced yesterday and is clearly in an active spell. Recent form reads 1 and 1 in the last six outings with a couple of disappointing runs mixed in, which is about as honest a picture as racing gives you: capable of winning, capable of finishing eighth. The horse that turns up on a good day at Newcastle, on normal ground, is a different proposition entirely.