Kind Of Blue

Trained by James Fanshawe out of Newmarket, Kind Of Blue operates almost exclusively at the top end of the sport. Six of its seven runs in Class 1 company have ended without a win, which sounds sobering until you remember that Class 1 races are where the elite compete. Finishing placed — in the top three — in nine of its thirteen races overall suggests a horse that consistently shows up and competes hard, even when the winner's prize eludes it.

The partnership with jockey Daniel Muscutt has been the most consistent thread through this horse's career. The two have raced together nine times and won twice — a win rate of around 1 in 4 — with Muscutt clearly understanding what the horse needs. That kind of familiarity matters, particularly in top-level racing where small margins decide outcomes.

What is harder to ignore is the current dry spell. Kind Of Blue has not won since that Ascot success in October 2024, now more than 20 months ago, and the last six runs read 11-2-11-2-3-8 — a mixture of places and disappointing finishes, with two runs where it barely featured. Fanshawe's yard has been in strong form this season, sending out 44 winners, so the horse has every support around it. Whether Kind Of Blue can rediscover the form that produced that Class 1 win at Ascot — and do it against the best horses in Britain once more — is the question worth watching. A horse that has already won at that level once knows how to do it. The question is simply when.