Forest Spirit

Both of those wins came in a remarkable three-day spell in March 2025 — first at Southwell on the 15th, then at Wolverhampton on the 18th. Back-to-back wins three days apart is no fluke; that is a horse hitting a purple patch, fit and full of confidence, everything clicking at once. The problem is that was over fourteen months ago, and Forest Spirit has not been back to the winner's enclosure since. Six races without a win is a run that will test any trainer's patience.

Mickey Bowen, based at Haverfordwest in Pembrokeshire, has had a productive season — 51 winners from the yard is a strong return, proof that the team knows how to get a horse ready to win. That makes Forest Spirit's current blank run more of a puzzle than a crisis. The raw materials are there: the horse clearly handles a trip of a mile and six furlongs up to two miles, winning 2 of 6 races at those distances, and it goes well enough on normal ground. The issue seems to be class. Forest Spirit has been pitched into Class 5 races seven times and has yet to win once from those seven attempts — 0 from 7 is a blunt number, and it suggests the horse may actually perform better when dropping away from that level rather than into it.

The recent form reads 2-3-5-7-9-11 going back through the last six runs — a sequence that is moving in the wrong direction. Second and third suggest the ability is still there, but the decline after that is hard to ignore. Raced just yesterday, Forest Spirit is clearly being kept busy. The yard will be hoping the right race, on the right ground, at the right distance, unlocks another winning run. It has happened before, and it happened quickly when it did.