Hypotenus

His most recent win came at Taunton in January 2026, and it was all the sweeter for what came before it. His previous run at Ludlow had been a rough, physical race that left him battered and bruised — not the kind of experience a horse like Hypotenus handles easily. Trainer Neil Mulholland was candid about his concerns: Hypotenus isn't built for scrappy, elbows-out racing. He needs space, his own rhythm, and a bit of room to breathe. Get that, and he's a different animal. The Taunton win, carrying a big weight, was his answer to a difficult spell — and it came just one day after his most recent outing, which means he's still very much in the thick of his season.

Mulholland, based at Limpley Stoke in Wiltshire, has been in fine form this season — 60 winners from the yard is a genuinely strong haul, the mark of an operation firing on all cylinders. Hypotenus's regular jockey is Taylor Fisher, who has ridden him eight times and won once together, a partnership that wins roughly 1 in every 8 races. Fisher knows the horse's quirks by now, which matters for a horse this particular about how he's ridden.

What makes Hypotenus genuinely interesting is the picture that emerges from his trainer's comments. He prefers fast, dry ground — he has, in Mulholland's words, "plenty of gears" and travels too keenly in wet or muddy conditions, which can work against him. He's also better racing right-handed. His first win came at Gowran Park in Ireland in September 2023 on a day when nobody wanted to set the pace, so his jockey simply took the race by the scruff of the neck and made all. That willingness to adapt tells you something about the team around him. His recent form — three third-place finishes in his last four races before the Taunton win — suggests a horse knocking consistently at the door. When the conditions suit, he has a habit of walking through it.