King Cuan

The numbers that really stand out are at Naas. King Cuan has raced there three times and won twice — that's winning 2 in every 3 visits to that track. For context, most horses might win once in every four or five races at a given course. To win two-thirds of the time at one venue suggests something about how the track suits him specifically — whether it's the shape of the circuit, the ground, or simply the level of competition he tends to face there. It's the kind of stat that would make any racing fan sit up.

His partnership with jockey W J Lee is another thread worth pulling. The two have raced together 10 times, winning on 4 of those occasions — a win rate of 40%, or 2 in every 5 rides. That's a meaningful working relationship, and when Lee is in the saddle, King Cuan has clearly performed at his best. His first career win came at Cork in September 2023, and his most recent was at Fairyhouse in June 2025.

That said, there is a question mark hanging over recent form. The last six races read 4-3-17-2-3-3, meaning he has not won any of them, with that 17th-place finish standing out as a notably bad day at the office. He placed second and third on a couple of occasions in that run, suggesting he is competing without quite finding the line — the horse equivalent of nearly but not quite. His last win was 11 months ago. With the yard in good nick and a race just one day ago, the team clearly hasn't given up on finding the right opportunity to get him back into the winner's enclosure. Whether Naas comes calling again might be the most interesting question of all.