Ki Woo

Bangor-on-Dee, a tight, quirky little track tucked into North Wales, has become Ki Woo's happy hunting ground. Two wins from three races there tells you the track suits him down to the ground — literally. He is a horse who wants fast, dry conditions, and Bangor on a sunny spring or summer day appears to bring out the best in him. His first career win there came in March 2025, and the yard has long had the North Wales National at Bangor in their sights as a potential target — a staying chase over the track he clearly loves.

His most recent win came at Haydock Park in March 2026, stepping up in distance over fences, jumping well and showing the kind of form that suggests there is still more to come. Joint trainer Oliver Greenall was candid afterwards — Ki Woo is a small horse who did well jumping hurdles, and the move to fences perhaps has not produced the leap forward everyone hoped for. Wet and muddy ground has been a genuine problem. He simply does not handle it, which in a British winter is an inconvenient truth. The plan is to keep him running through spring and summer, where the ground is more likely to suit, with the Highland National at Perth — a long-distance chase in Scotland — floated as a possible target if he does not pick up too much extra weight in the ratings.

Behind the scenes, the Oldcastle, Cheshire yard of Greenall and Guerriero has been in sharp form, sending out 43 winners this season — so this is a team that knows what it is doing with horses like Ki Woo. His last five runs have included a win, a runner-up, and a fifth, suggesting a horse in consistent form rather than a flash in the pan. With the ground drying out and the right races chosen carefully, Ki Woo looks like exactly the kind of horse who could sneak up on people this summer.