Courageous Strike

Trained by Paul Nicholls at his famous Ditcheat yard in Somerset — a stable that has already sent out 92 winners this season alone, which tells you something about the quality of operation behind this horse — Courageous Strike has shown a real liking for normal ground conditions, winning 3 of his 7 races on a good surface. That is a win rate of 43%, or nearly 1 in every 2 races when the ground suits him, which is a striking number and suggests that getting the conditions right is half the battle with him.

The most revealing detail about this horse, though, is his temperament. Nicholls has been candid about it: Courageous Strike is a keen, free-going type who can get himself into trouble by racing too enthusiastically early on. He spoilt his chance on his first run over two and a half miles by burning up too much energy too soon. Dropped back in trip, he won at Chepstow in April and followed up three weeks later — back-to-back wins that showed what he is capable of when everything clicks. Then, on his most recent run at Newton Abbot in May, the freshness returned and he finished fifth, not quite in the race he needed to be. Nicholls sounds untroubled by it, viewing that run as one to set aside rather than worry about.

He has not raced for 70 days now, which represents a deliberate rest — the team have held him back with an eye on better opportunities in the autumn rather than simply keeping him busy over summer. That kind of patience from a big yard usually means something. Courageous Strike wins roughly 1 in every 5 races across his whole career (4 from 22, or 18%), but in his last 6 runs he has won 2 — a noticeably sharper return that suggests he is in one of the better phases of his career. If the ground comes up right and he settles in the early stages, he looks like exactly the sort of horse who can land a good prize before the season is out.