Excellent Believe

The 4-year-old has since made good on that early promise in emphatic fashion. From just 8 races, Excellent Believe has won 3 times and finished in the first three on 7 occasions — that is a horse who almost always gives a good account of itself. A win rate of 38%, roughly winning 3 in every 8 races, is the kind of number that turns heads. Most horses in training are doing well to win 1 in 5, so this is a genuinely impressive return.

The first win came at Nottingham in May 2025, with another following at Haydock Park in August. Those two tracks — one in the Midlands, one in the north-west — suggest a horse that travels and performs at different venues rather than being a one-trick specialist. The recent form reads 3-3-2-1-6-1, which tells an interesting story: two wins bookending a dip in form, with the horse now placing consistently again. That sixth-place finish in the middle of the sequence looks like the exception rather than the rule.

Jack Channon's yard at West Ilsley has sent out 46 winners this season alone, which is the mark of a busy, well-run operation that knows how to place its horses. Channon spotted early that Excellent Believe was well-bred enough to win before stepping up into tougher company, and that judgement has been vindicated. The horse raced just one day ago and is very much in the thick of things — not a talent for the future, but one delivering in the present.