Firestream

That Wincanton win came on 16 January 2025, and it clearly impressed his trainer at the time, Anthony Honeyball, who spoke afterwards about the horse's "relentless stride" and clean jumping. Honeyball mentioned the Pertemps qualifiers — a series of races that funnel horses toward the Cheltenham Festival — and even floated the idea of a three-mile race at Aintree, a proper big-occasion track. He drew a comparison to Fountains Windfall, a horse the yard had already won at Aintree with. That is not idle talk. When a trainer drops a name like that after a midseason win, he believes he has something worth pointing at a serious race.

The ground is the key factor with Firestream. On slightly wet or soft ground, he has won 3 times from just 4 attempts — a 75% win rate that is genuinely extraordinary. On other ground, he has not won once. This is a horse with a very specific sweet spot, and when conditions align, the record suggests he delivers.

Firestream is now trained by Chester Williams, based in Devon, and the yard has sent out 10 winners already this season — a yard in form worth paying attention to. His most regular jockey is Aidan Coleman, who has won twice from 6 rides together, winning roughly 1 in every 3 — a solid partnership. The horse raced just yesterday, so he is clearly fit and active, and at Class 4 level he wins 2 from every 5 races, which is a strong return at that tier.

He first won at Exeter back in January 2022, and three years on he is still competitive and apparently being aimed at bigger things. A horse who loves the wet, jumps cleanly, and has trainers who believe he belongs at Aintree is one worth following whenever the forecast turns grey.