Item

Item got started at Kempton Park back in September 2025 and won first time out, which is rarer than it sounds — plenty of horses take several attempts just to get off the mark. Since then, the winning hasn't stopped. Item has gone out three times and come back first three times, completing the sequence with a win at York just this week. York is one of the most prestigious tracks in the country, a place where good horses come to prove themselves, so winning there adds genuine weight to what is shaping up to be a very promising profile.

Behind the scenes, Item is trained by Andrew Balding at his Kingsclere yard in Hampshire, and the numbers there are striking. The team has sent out 202 winners already this season — that is a conveyor belt of success that puts them among the most productive operations in the country. When a horse is prepared by a yard running that hot, it tends to tell you something about the quality of the environment around it. Balding's set-up does not typically waste well-bred, talented horses on easy targets; they tend to build careers with a plan in mind.

What makes Item genuinely worth watching is not just the perfect record but the trajectory. A debut win, steady progression, and then York. Each step has been a step up, and each time Item has delivered. At three, there is still a whole season ahead and potentially a lot of racing left to find out just how good this horse really is.