Kikijo

The story behind those wins matters. Joint-trainer Johnson White admitted after the first career win at Newbury in February that Kikijo had been a puzzle — disappointing over hurdles, uncertain about what distance suited him. Fences, it turned out, were the answer. Slowing him down just enough, giving him something to think about, seemed to unlock something. From there the progression has been rapid. Cheltenham followed, where syndicate manager Richard Johnson — a former champion jockey himself — watched from the stands and confessed he finds that far more nerve-racking than riding. Kikijo, he said, travelled and jumped beautifully. Then came Sandown three weeks later, and another Class 2 victory.

One detail stands out above almost everything else in Kikijo's profile: he has won 3 of the 4 races he has run on wet or muddy ground. That is a 75% win rate in those conditions, which is a remarkable number by any measure. It suggests the team will be keeping a very close eye on the weather forecast before committing to any entry, and rightly so. By contrast, he has yet to win in three attempts at Class 3 level — so while the step up in class has suited him, the middle ground has not delivered yet.

The yard itself is in strong form, sending out 37 winners this season, and the plan after Cheltenham was always to use Sandown as a Pertemps qualifier — a route that could open doors toward the Cheltenham Festival. With that box now ticked, the question is where Kikijo goes next. He has the form, the ground preference, and a team that clearly believes there is more to come. His last two results — 1-1 — tell you everything about his current momentum.