Minella Study

The highlights are genuinely eye-catching. Minella Study broke its duck at Tipperary in July 2025, then stepped up dramatically to win a top-level Class 1 race at Wetherby in October — one of the biggest races in Britain at that level. Two months later, it went one better in terms of prestige, winning a Class 2 at Cheltenham, the home of jump racing and the track that sorts out the very best from the rest. Winning there, at any level, means something. The fact that it managed it as a four-year-old puts it in elite company.

The distance angle is worth paying attention to. Over two miles and beyond, Minella Study has won 3 of its 5 races — that is a 60% win rate at its preferred trip, which is extraordinary by any measure. Most horses in training win roughly 1 in every 10 races across their careers. Winning 3 in every 5 at a specific distance suggests this is not luck, but a horse finding exactly the kind of race that suits it.

It is trained by Adam Nicol, who operates out of Seahouses in Northumberland — not the most fashionable postcode in British racing, but results do the talking and the yard has sent out 26 winners this season alone. Getting a horse to Cheltenham and winning is no small feat from any yard, let alone one based on the Northumberland coast.

Recent form does show an eighth-place finish in the most recent outing, so the question of whether that Cheltenham win represents a peak or simply a stepping stone is one to watch. But given the trajectory — first win in July, a Grade 1 venue success in October, Cheltenham glory in December — this is a horse that has improved rapidly at every turn. At just four years old, there is every reason to think Minella Study has not come close to showing us everything yet.