I Wish You

That one career win came at Carlisle in October 2024, and it mattered. It was his very first race over hurdles, and it told the yard something important: he knows how to win. Before that, he had been finishing second repeatedly in his earlier races — not because he lacked talent, but because, in the trainer's own words, he was a little bit weak and needed time to fill his frame and mature. Eight places from 14 races is actually the record of a horse who is consistently competitive; he just needed everything to click at once.

The honest assessment from Peter Scudamore, who helps run the yard, is that this horse wants a longer trip and still has plenty of growing into himself to do. That Carlisle win came over hurdles on debut, which is genuinely unusual — most horses need a run or two to figure out jumping. The fact that he managed it first time out suggests there is a better horse in there than his record currently shows. Scudamore was also candid that I Wish You was beaten that day by three of their own horses, which gives you a sense of just how strong a team Lucinda Russell and Michael Scudamore are running — 49 winners already this season.

The plan, when the time comes, is to send him chasing, jumping fences rather than hurdles. That is typically the step up in class and physicality where a certain type of horse finds a whole new gear. I Wish You has not won in his last six races, and his most recent win is now 18 months ago, so patience is still required. But this is a yard that bought him cheaply as a youngster, kept faith through the lean years, and genuinely believes the most interesting chapter is still to come. Sometimes the most compelling thing about a racehorse is not what it has already done, but what the people who know it best think it is capable of doing next.