First Folio

Trainer Julie Camacho, who operates out of Norton in North Yorkshire and has sent out 46 winners already this season, clearly knows this horse well. She described First Folio as a stable stalwart, consistent rather than flashy, and has spoken enthusiastically about his suitability for big sprint races over a stiff six furlongs. She has harboured ambitions for top-level races like the Wokingham at Royal Ascot — serious company — which tells you she rates this horse's potential above what the bare numbers might suggest.

The puzzle, though, is Class 2. First Folio has raced 17 times at that level — one of the top tiers of British racing — and has not won once. That is 0 from 17. Yet Camacho keeps pitching him into those races, and the horse keeps placing, which suggests he is genuinely competitive at that level even if the wins have dried up. Jockey Daniel Muscutt, who has ridden him nine times without a win, noted after one run at York that the horse ran better than his finishing position suggested — and that racing in a big field was something First Folio was still learning.

The most recent win came at Great Yarmouth in September 2024, now twenty months ago. Since then, six races without a victory, though his recent form shows a second and a third mixed in among the blanks — he is still running into places, still competitive. He raced just yesterday, which means this is a horse very much in the middle of an active campaign. The question for anyone watching him is simple: will he make it back to Great Yarmouth? Because that is where First Folio becomes a different animal entirely.