Ikarak

The key to unlocking Ikarak, though, is the ground. On wet or muddy surfaces, the record reads 4 wins from just 6 races — that's a 67% win rate, or two-thirds of all its races in those conditions ending in victory. That's not a preference, that's practically a superpower. When the rain comes down and the ground gets soft, Ikarak moves to the front of the queue. Trainers and punters know to keep a close eye on the forecast.

Olly Murphy's yard at Wilmcote in Warwickshire has sent out 146 winners this season alone, which tells you everything about the operation Ikarak calls home. Murphy is one of the busiest and most productive trainers in the country right now, and horses from his yard tend to arrive fit and ready. When Sean Bowen is booked to ride, that's another good sign — the pair have won 4 of their 8 races together, which means they've clicked roughly half the time. For a jockey-horse combination at this level, that's a remarkable conversion rate.

Ikarak also has a soft spot for Warwick — the local track, as it happens, just a short trip from the Murphy base. Two wins from three races there is the kind of record that makes you wonder whether the horse simply enjoys the journey. The most recent win came at Ayr on 2 January 2026, so there's been a three-month gap since that last success. The recent form reads a mixed 13-3-1-3-1-2, suggesting Ikarak has had its share of off days lately. But this is a horse that raced just yesterday and is very much still in the thick of things — and when the skies cloud over and the ground softens up, it has a habit of reminding everyone exactly what it's capable of.