Izakaya

Those two career wins have both come over long distances — two miles or more — and that tells you something about what kind of horse this is. It needs time and space to get into a rhythm, the sort of race where stamina matters more than raw speed. Trained by Camilla Poulton out of Lewes in East Sussex, a small yard that has sent out just two winners this season, Izakaya has punched at roughly Class 5 level — the bread-and-butter end of the racing calendar rather than the glamour events. But within that level, on its favoured ground and over its favoured trip, it has shown it can deliver.

The recent form makes for interesting reading. After a quiet mid-season spell, Izakaya won back-to-back races in autumn 2025 — first at Bath in September, then at Newbury in October — before finishing fourth and eighth in its two most recent outings. It last raced just yesterday, so it is clearly in an active campaign. Its most regular partner is jockey J F Egan, who has ridden it in 5 of its 15 races and won once together — a 20% win rate, which is actually a solid return given the horse's overall record of winning just 1 in every 7 or 8 races across its career. When the rain comes and the distance is long, Izakaya is a different animal entirely — and that is the version worth keeping an eye on.