El Cairos

His first win came at Newbury in November 2024, and his most recent at Thurles in January 2026 — and that Thurles run is the one that really caught the eye. Elliott had deliberately chosen that race over a higher-profile Grade 1 at the Dublin Racing Festival, wanting to give the horse a confidence-building outing in a slowly-run contest that would suit him. The plan worked almost too well. Jockey Jack Kennedy, one of the best in the business, later blamed himself for a minor mistake at the final jump — said he didn't commit one way or the other, and the horse galloped straight into it. What happened next told you everything: El Cairos met the fence wrong, yet recovered immediately and won anyway. Elliott's phrase was that he "never came out of second gear." A horse that can make a jumping error and still win comfortably, without being fully extended, is a horse with something left to show you.

Since then, the form has been consistent without being spectacular on paper — a couple of fifth-place finishes mixed in — but Elliott has been clear that the horse looks fantastic at home, is working brilliantly, and is being pointed squarely at the Supreme Novices' Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival. That is one of the most prestigious races in British and Irish jump racing, the opening event on the opening day, and it draws the best young hurdlers in training. The fact that El Cairos has raced as recently as yesterday, and that the team's sights are firmly set on Cheltenham, suggests this horse is in the form of his life. Elliott's words after his last run were simple and telling: "He's a proper horse." From a trainer with 209 winners on the board this season, that is not a throwaway line.