Jagwar

The headline on his CV is a Class 1 win at Cheltenham on 13 March 2025 — that is the top tier of British racing, and Cheltenham is its spiritual home. He had already won a Class 2 there in January of the same year, making it two wins at the festival track in the space of seven weeks. In total he has won two of his six races at Cheltenham, which puts his record there at the same 33% rate as his career average — but that undersells it, because not every horse can perform when the lights are brightest. Many horses who look good elsewhere simply fold at Cheltenham. Jagwar does not.

Much of that Cheltenham success has been built with Jonjo O'Neill Jr. in the saddle. The pair have won five races together from eleven, a win rate of 45% — almost one in every two races they run together. That is a remarkable partnership figure by any measure. O'Neill Jr. knows exactly how to get the best from this horse, and the trainer has spoken candidly about moments where the jockey has felt Jagwar about to take off turning in, only for wet, sticky ground and the weight of the top-weight to drag the performance out of him late on. The horse has the feel of a winner, even when results don't fully reflect it.

Trained by Oliver Greenall and Josh Guerriero out of their Cheshire yard — a team that has sent out 43 winners this season alone — Jagwar is seen as a horse with room still to grow. The stable have been deliberate about protecting his confidence, pulling him out of races where conditions or weight might have hurt rather than helped him. They believe he is better than a typical handicapper, that spring ground suits him, and that there may be more distance in him too. His most recent run was just yesterday, so whatever comes next is imminent. On this evidence, it should be worth watching.