El Burhan

Trained by George Boughey at Newmarket — a yard that has sent out 99 winners already this season, so this is not a small operation — El Burhan has done most of his best work on normal ground conditions. In those circumstances, he's won 2 of 3 races, a hit rate of 67%, which is exceptional. He's not the type who needs the track softened by rain or baked hard by sun; give him a fair surface and he tends to perform. His jockey Jim Crowley knows him well, having ridden him to all three of his wins from six rides together — that's a 50% win rate between them, which is the kind of partnership you build a season around.

His two Class 2 victories tell an interesting story on their own. He won at Chester in May 2025, a track famous for its tight, circular layout where drawing a bad starting position can ruin your race before it starts. He won at Ayr in September 2025, seeing out the longer distance strongly — Boughey noted afterwards that the trip was the key, and hinted there might be even further to go yet. Crowley echoed that after Chester, saying the team hadn't got to the bottom of him — which, in racing, is about the most exciting thing you can say about a horse. It means there's more to find.

His recent form of 4-5-1-9-13-1 looks patchy at first glance, but the context matters. He raced at Ascot, wasn't quite right, was given time off, then came back to win at Ayr. He reappeared at Kempton most recently — just one day ago — and while it wasn't a winning run, Boughey described it as a healthy comeback rather than a setback. The trainer is clearly thinking bigger: El Burhan was nearly sold at the end of last year but the team managed to hold on to him. Given what he's already achieved at 40% across his career, that looks like a very good decision.