Kargese

The headline number is this: three wins from four visits to Cheltenham. That is one of the most famous and demanding racecourses in the world, a track where horses travel from Ireland, France, and across Britain just for the chance to compete, and Kargese has turned it into something close to a home circuit. Crucially, two of those wins have come at the Cheltenham Festival itself — the sport's equivalent of a major championship — in March 2025 and again in March 2026. Winning it once is a career-defining moment. Winning it in back-to-back years puts a horse in a different category entirely.

Her trainer, Willie Mullins, runs the most powerful yard in jump racing. His operation at Muine Bheag in County Carlow has sent out 230 winners this season alone, a figure that sounds almost implausible until you realise Mullins has been dominating the sport for three decades. When a horse stands out even within that environment, it means something. Mullins has called Kargese "as tough as nails" and "as tough as anything I have ever seen" — high praise from a man who has trained some of the greatest horses in the sport's history. He has pointed specifically to her mental strength, the way she recovers and comes back better, which is rarer than raw ability.

Add in one more detail that borders on the eerie: in wet or soft conditions she has raced three times and won three times. A 100% record on that kind of ground is not luck — it suggests a horse who genuinely thrives when the mud comes up and others are finding it hard work. With jockey Paul Townend — Ireland's champion jockey — winning 3 of their 7 races together, the partnership clearly works.

She last raced five weeks ago, winning again at Cheltenham, and is now coming off a short break. Recent form reads 1-1-2-1-2-3, which for most horses would be outstanding and for Kargese feels almost routine. Whatever comes next, this is a horse worth paying attention to.