Guinness Lad

The recent form makes for genuinely encouraging reading. Reading it from most recent backwards, his last six runs read 3-1-2-5-6-7 — so that win last week at Windsor sits in the middle of a real purple patch. Three of his last four races have seen him finish in the top three, which is a sharp upturn from what came before. Whether he is getting better with age, or simply finding his feet at the right distances, something has clearly clicked.

That distance question is worth lingering on. Guinness Lad has been most effective over a mile and three to a mile and four furlongs — roughly two to two and a quarter miles — and that is where his sole career win came. His record over those trips reads 1 win from 8 races, or about 1 in every 8, which is a meaningful improvement on his overall record of just 1 from 20. Put simply, when the yard put him over his favoured trip, he is a different animal.

He is trained by Neil Mulholland at Limpley Stoke in Wiltshire, a yard that has been in fine form this season with 60 winners already on the board — so there is no shortage of confidence in the camp. Millie Wonnacott has partnered him seven times without a win between them, though it is worth noting that partnership is yet to encounter him at his current level of form. That Windsor victory may prove to be a turning point rather than a one-off moment of fortune — and with his best racing seemingly ahead of him, Guinness Lad is a horse worth keeping an eye on.