Le Beau Garcon

His two wins tell an interesting story about what he needs to perform. Both have come on fast, dry ground, and he's won 2 of just 9 races in those conditions — that's a win rate of around 22%, or roughly 1 in every 4 or 5 times the ground suits him. That's a very different horse to the one who plods around in wetter conditions. When the sun has been out and the ground is quick, he becomes genuinely hard to ignore.

Jockey Joanna Mason has clearly figured something out. In 11 rides together, she's steered him to both career wins — that's 2 from 11, or about 1 in every 5 or 6 times she's been on board. That kind of partnership doesn't happen by accident. She's evidently well-suited to how he travels and when he needs to be asked.

His recent form is a bit of a rollercoaster: in his last six races, he's finished 1st, 6th, 16th, 2nd, 11th, and 4th reading back from the present. The two most recent runs — a solid fourth and then an 11th — came after that Ayr win in May 2025, suggesting he's found a level and is holding form, if not quite recapturing the peak. He raced just yesterday, which confirms the yard at Sheriff Hutton is keeping him busy. Michael and David Easterby have sent out 55 winners this season, so this is a yard in decent form and clearly happy to keep running him.

Most of his racing has come at Class 4 level, which represents solid but not spectacular company — mid-tier races where the competition is genuine without being elite. He's won just 1 from 17 at that level, but given how specific his requirements are — dry ground, Joanna Mason aboard — patience is clearly the approach, and it paid off at Ayr not long ago.