Jena d'Oudairies

What makes her particularly interesting is what she does at Taunton. She has won 2 of her 3 races there — a remarkable conversion rate that suggests the track simply suits her. For context, most horses at this level are doing well to win 1 in 6 races at any given course. Taunton is where she got off the mark back in April 2024, and that course form has only strengthened since. Her most recent win came at Stratford-on-Avon just three weeks ago, so she arrives at this point of the season in form and fresh.

The partnership with jockey Freddie Gingell is also worth noting. In 9 races together, they have won 3 times — that's 1 in every 3 rides, which is an exceptional hit rate and suggests a real understanding between horse and rider. When Gingell is in the saddle, results have a habit of following.

Her typical level is Class 4, the bread-and-butter tier of jump racing, and at that grade she has won 1 from 6, which is modest. But the way she finished her season — with back-to-back wins and a sequence that now reads 1-1 in the most recent two — paints a picture of a horse still finding her feet and improving. Nicholls noted during a stable tour last autumn that she ran a little green in her early wins, putting in some awkward jumps, but that a solid run in a better-quality race at Cheltenham showed she can handle a step up in class. He flagged the valuable Richard Barber Memorial at Wincanton as a target that looks tailor-made for her. That's a trainer who knows what he has, pointing it somewhere specific — usually a sign worth paying attention to.