Lakers

Trained by Kevin Philippart De Foy out of Newmarket, Lakers comes from a yard that has already sent out 41 winners this season alone. That is not a quiet backwater operation — that is a stable firing on all cylinders, and horses trained there tend to be placed in races they have a genuine chance of winning. Lakers first announced itself with a win at Ffos Las in Wales in July 2024, and its most recent victory came at Southwell in October 2025 — six months ago, which means there is a win waiting to happen again if the form holds.

The recent runs tell an interesting story. Reading the last six outings from most recent to oldest — fifth, a run with no finishing position recorded, third, first, seventh, fifth — there is a horse that clearly has a win in it but has not quite hit top gear since that Southwell success. The blank run in the sequence adds a little mystery, but the third place just before that suggests it is not far off.

Where Lakers has genuinely struggled is at the top end of the sport. In three races at Class 2 level — which means some of the most competitive races in Britain — it has yet to trouble the winner. Zero from three at that grade is not a disgrace; it simply tells you that Lakers is a horse that tends to win when the competition is a little more open. Step it down slightly and the results speak for themselves. The task now is whether Kevin Philippart De Foy can find the right opportunity to get Lakers back to the winner's enclosure, because the talent is clearly there — it just needs the right day.