Griselda

Trained by Henrietta C Knight at West Lockinge in Oxfordshire — a yard that has sent out 15 winners already this season — Griselda was flagged early as a horse worth watching. Knight described her as tall and imposing, covering a lot of ground in her stride, and felt she showed enough at home to suggest she could handle sprint distances up to six furlongs. That instinct proved right. Her best racing has come over the short, sharp trips between five and six-and-a-half furlongs, where she has won 3 from 15 races — a win rate of 20%, or 1 in every 5 at those distances. For context, that is meaningfully better than her overall record, which suggests distance really does matter for her.

She opened her account at Pontefract in July 2024, then followed up at Thirsk just a few weeks later — and that remains her last win, now 21 months ago. Her recent form makes for harder reading: the last six runs have produced two places but no wins, including a couple of outings where she has finished well down the field. She is clearly capable, but something — whether fitness, ground, or simply the level of competition on the day — has so far prevented her from recapturing that brief productive spell last summer.

One thing that does light her up is fast, dry ground, where she has won 2 from 6 races, a win rate of 33% — roughly 1 in every 3 outings. That is a striking number, and it makes her one to keep in mind whenever the ground is described as firm in the summer months. Jockey Callum Shepherd has ridden her six times and won once together, a rate of 17% or just under 1 in 6, making him her most familiar partner in the saddle. She raced just yesterday, so clearly the yard believe there is still more to come. At the level she typically competes — the most accessible grade of racing — she has won 3 from just 7 races, a remarkable 43%. When everything aligns, Griselda delivers.