Kapitein Kool

His first career win came at Newton Abbot in October 2025, and trainer Seamus Mullins reveals that the horse had actually run in several races beforehand without winning — including a respectable fifth at Haydock in a £10,000 race, finishing behind a horse called So Proud. Mullins was never discouraged, and his patience looks vindicated. The step up to races over hurdles transformed the horse: he won first time out over them at Newton Abbot, then split two horses owned by one of racing's most powerful owners, JP McManus, in what amounted to a significant performance for a horse at this level.

The longer the race, the better Kapitein Kool tends to perform. Over distances of two miles or more, he has won 2 of his 6 races — that is 1 in every 3, which is a genuinely impressive return at any level of the sport. His most recent win came at Exeter in February 2026, around two months ago, and he operates predominantly at Class 4, the solid mid-tier of British racing. At that level he has won 2 from 5, which means he is winning 40% of his races — close to 2 in every 5 — a ratio that marks him out as a reliable and competitive performer rather than a journeyman making up the numbers.

Mullins trains out of Wilsford-Cum-Lake in Wiltshire and has sent out 10 winners this season, so this is a yard in decent form. Kapitein Kool is not a horse who is going to trouble the top races in Britain anytime soon, but that is not the point. He is a horse who does his job honestly, improves when given a trip, and has already shown he can beat useful rivals. For a five-year-old still finding his feet over hurdles, the ceiling may not yet be in sight.