Egbert

What makes Egbert genuinely interesting is his relationship with Haydock Park. He has won 2 of his 3 races there, and both victories came in Class 2 races — among the better races in Britain — in late December, a year apart almost to the day. Winning once at a track in that grade is good. Winning twice, in the same month, twelve months later, starts to look like more than coincidence. Haydock in winter, on wet and muddy ground, seems to bring out something in this horse that his regular racing at Class 3 level — where he has won only 1 from 6 — doesn't always reveal.

Christian Williams trains him from his yard at Ogmore-By-Sea in Glamorgan, a team that has been in sharp form this season with 25 winners. Williams has been clear-eyed about where Egbert belongs: competitive in staying chases, but not quite at the very top level, as a tilt at the Scottish Grand National proved one step too far. That kind of honest placing of a horse is often what keeps a career going into a ninth season. Tom Cannon has ridden him in 13 of his 20 races and won 3 of them together — roughly 1 in every 4.

Jockey Gavin Sheehan, who partnered him at Haydock in December, painted a vivid picture after the race: Egbert wasn't travelling well early on the testing ground, but turned for home and found a completely different gear — brave at the last fence and getting stronger the further they went. Williams himself has noted that Egbert can look pedestrian away from home yet works like a different animal at his yard. There is clearly more going on beneath the surface than his race-day demeanour always suggests. With a race just yesterday and both his recent wins coming in the final weeks of the year, Egbert looks like a horse who knows exactly when to show up.