Impaire Et Passe

Every one of Impaire Et Passe's four wins at the top level of British racing has come at Class 1, the very highest grade. That is a perfect four from four, and the venues tell the story: Cheltenham in March 2023, Aintree twice in April 2024, and Sandown in April 2024, with a fifth top-level win back at Aintree as recently as April 2025. Aintree in particular looks like home — two wins from just three visits, and the team are already quietly planning another trip there next spring. As jockey Paul Townend put it after one of those victories, there was no great mystery to it: the horse had won five Grade 1s, and he was simply the best horse in the race.

Townend and Impaire Et Passe are a combination worth paying attention to. Together they have won 8 of 10 races — that is four in every five — which is an extraordinary partnership at this level. Townend's own post-race assessment captures the horse's character well: it does not do much once it hits the front, can get there sooner than ideal, but it tends to find what is needed when asked. The trainer has been honest that the horse's run at the Dublin Racing Festival earlier this year was below par, but the response — skipping Cheltenham and heading straight to Aintree — produced another top-level win. Knowing when to protect a horse and when to back it is half the job at this level.

Recent form shows four runs without a win, but the last completed result was a third at Gowran Park just days ago, and the plan for the season ahead is already taking shape: a Christmas target, the Dublin Racing Festival, and then — most likely — back to Aintree in the spring. For a horse that treats the biggest stages as its best opportunity, that is a schedule worth following.