Fallen Angel

The ground is not a minor detail with Fallen Angel — it is the whole story. On wet or softish ground, she has won all 3 races she has ever run on it. On faster, drier conditions, the wheels come off; her trainer Karl Burke has been blunt about this, explaining that she simply doesn't let herself down when there is any jar in the ground. Her head comes up, her rhythm breaks, and the race is effectively over. Burke has made it clear she will not run on fast ground again — which means the whole season becomes a weather-dependent puzzle. Royal Ascot is on the radar, but only if the ground is right.

Newmarket suits her beautifully. She has won 2 of her 3 races there, including a Class 1 victory as recently as October 2025, where Burke admitted he would have been lying if he said he expected her to win three top-level races in a row. That she did so — off the back of a patch where she had grown idle at home and was only going through the motions — says something real about her character. Cheekpieces helped sharpen her up, and James Doyle, who rides her in most of her races, has won 2 of their 5 outings together.

This is likely her final season in training. Burke has mapped out an ambitious farewell: the Prix d'Ispahan in May, possible runs at Royal Ascot, and the dream of a Breeders' Cup swansong. Whether she gets there will depend, as ever, on the weather forecast. But a horse that has won at the highest level, on her terms, in her conditions, and kept finding more when it mattered — that is worth following to the end.