Luttrell Lad

His win rate jumps sharply on wet or muddy ground. On those softer conditions, he has won 2 of 9 races — that's around 1 in 4, more than double his overall rate. It is the kind of pattern that means something: when the ground is testing and rivals are tiring, Luttrell Lad finds extra. His trainer Tom Lacey put it plainly after his last win at Exeter in November 2025 — the race fell apart in front of him and he simply outstayed the field. That is a very specific skill. Not speed, not jumping brilliance — just stamina and honesty when others are emptying.

That Exeter win was his most recent, and it came with some context. Lacey revealed that Luttrell Lad has suffered from gastric ulcers throughout his career, an uncomfortable and often performance-sapping condition that can make horses difficult to train and manage. The fact that he has kept running and producing his share of big efforts in spite of that is a genuine mark in his favour. Lacey called him "a credit to himself" — and from a trainer with 37 winners already on the board this season at his Herefordshire yard, that is not a throwaway line.

The one area where the record stings is at Class 1 and 2 level, where the very best horses in Britain compete. Luttrell Lad has run 14 times at that standard and is yet to win — 0 from 14. That is a tough number to look past. Whether he gets another crack at that level or finds his best form in slightly calmer company, his regular partner Cameron Iles — who has ridden him in 8 races together — will know exactly what they are dealing with: a horse who, as Lacey says, always shows up and runs his race.