Imperial Data

The most striking thing about Imperial Data is what happens when the heavens open. On wet or muddy ground, this horse has won 2 of its last 3 races — a 67% win rate that suggests the worse the weather, the better the performance. That kind of preference for testing conditions is relatively rare and gives the team a real edge when the forecast looks grim. Trainer Rebecca Menzies, based at her yard in Morden, Durham, has spoken about how the horse needed decent ground to travel earlier in its career, but experience and a wind operation that clearly made a significant difference have since unlocked a bolder, calmer version of Imperial Data. The trainer noted that before the operation, the horse was visibly anxious before races — almost certainly, she reasoned, because breathing was already difficult before a stride had been taken. Fixing that changed everything.

Cartmel has become this horse's happy hunting ground in the most literal sense. Three wins from six races there — winning 1 in every 2 — at a tricky, uniquely shaped track in the Lake District that many horses simply never get to grips with. The most recent of those wins came in a Class 2 race in August 2025, which is one of the top tiers of British racing. Winning at that level at Cartmel, a course with sharp turns and quirky demands that rewards genuine specialists, is a proper achievement.

Regular jockey Ross Chapman has been central to the partnership, winning 4 of their 14 races together — roughly 1 in every 3.5 rides. After a win at Sedgefield he admitted it came later than he'd have liked and that Imperial Data was getting a little too close to the fences mid-race, a reminder that even a seasoned performer is still learning. With 36 winners already sent out by the Menzies yard this season and Imperial Data racing just yesterday, this is a horse very much in the thick of things.