Enfjaar

The headline moment so far came at York in July 2024, when Enfjaar won a top-level Class 2 race — one of the better races in Britain — in what the owners described as a tough contest. After that win, the team were already talking about Group races, the elite tier of the sport, and drawing comparisons with a previous yard inmate who had gone on to win a Group 1. They weren't making promises, but they weren't dismissing the idea either. Then came a long absence: bone bruising and other issues kept Enfjaar off the track for what will be roughly ten months by the time he returns.

That comeback is now being pointed at the Listed Festival Stakes at Goodwood in May, a prestigious race in its own right. Roger Varian has been candid about the plan: if Enfjaar wins there, the ambitions grow. If not, a return to the Wolferton at Royal Ascot — a race Varian believes he was unlucky not to win last season — stays on the table. It is a sensible, patient approach from a yard that has sent out 87 winners already this season.

The numbers that really stand out are course-specific. At Chelmsford, Enfjaar has won 2 of his 3 races there — a remarkable two-in-three record that marks him out as a genuine specialist on that track. He also thrives over a mile and three to a mile and four furlongs, winning 2 of his 4 races at those distances. Give him normal ground and he has won 2 of 3 outings. The ingredients are clearly there. What has proved harder to crack is the very top level: in six races at Class 1, he has yet to win. That is the frontier he is now being aimed at.

One curious footnote: his regular jockey Jim Crowley has yet to win on him in seven attempts together. The partnership has produced plenty of places, but no victories. Whether that changes this season — starting at Goodwood — is one of the more intriguing questions surrounding a horse who, at six, is rounding into what might genuinely be his best year.