Lessay

The key to Lessay is the ground. On wet or muddy surfaces, the record sharpens dramatically — 2 wins from 9 races, winning roughly 1 in every 4 or 5, which is a completely different animal to the horse that plods around on faster ground. Combine that with the right distance — somewhere between seven furlongs and a mile, where Lessay has all three career wins from 26 races — and Patrick Morris's yard has a horse with a genuine profile of when to pay attention. Morris, based in Prescott, Merseyside, has sent out 22 winners already this season, so this is not a yard sending horses out just to fill a field.

The course record at Kempton Park is the standout detail. Two wins from nine races there is genuinely notable — most horses never win at the same track twice, let alone build a pattern. That debut win came at Kempton on 13 December 2023, and the track clearly suits something about how Lessay moves and races. The most recent win came at Wolverhampton in December 2025, so there is a five-month gap to bridge, but the horse raced just yesterday, which tells you the team consider it in good enough shape to be running.

The current jockey partnership with Hector Crouch is the one question mark — no wins together from five attempts, though five races is a small enough sample that it would be harsh to read too much into it. Form over the last six races shows no wins and a best finish of second, so Lessay is clearly going through a lean spell. But for anyone who understands this horse's record, the checklist is simple: Kempton or Wolverhampton, a wet forecast, and seven furlongs to a mile. Tick those boxes and Lessay becomes a lot more interesting than a 7% win rate suggests.