Kit's Coty

That win at Ludlow in October 2025 was the second of Kit's Coty's career, and it carried the hallmarks of a horse finally clicking. Lavelle had quietly backed this horse all along — even while it went through a stretch of races without winning off a mark of 96. A minor wind operation appears to have helped, but Lavelle is careful not to over-credit the surgery. What she points to just as readily is the venue: Kit's Coty has run its best races at Ludlow, and appears to thrive when given a break between outings rather than being raced frequently. In the race itself, there was a moment of drama at the first fence where the horse slid on a slippery patch and got anxious, but jockey Jonathan coaxed it back into rhythm and it jumped beautifully from there. It was a performance full of character.

The first win, at Hereford in January 2024, came in demanding, muddy conditions that would have stopped lesser horses. Tom Bellamy, who has partnered Kit's Coty seven times and knows the horse well, noted it was finishing strongly just when the race was at its hardest — a sign of a genuine stayer who keeps finding more when others are tiring. Bellamy flagged the jumping as a real asset, and that assessment has been borne out since.

At Class 4 level — solid, competitive racing without quite reaching the top tier — Kit's Coty has won 2 from 10 races, a 20% win rate that is actually its strongest record at any level. The horse is eight years old, active as of yesterday, and Lavelle believes there are more wins in it yet. With Ludlow on the horizon and a trainer who knows exactly where and when this horse operates best, that confidence does not feel misplaced.