Mount Atlas

The really striking detail is what he does at Ascot. He has run there three times and won twice, including back-to-back wins on 26 July 2024 and 12 July 2025. Both were Class 2 races — meaning he has beaten quality fields at one of Britain's most prestigious tracks, not once but twice, a year apart. Winning 2 from 3 at a single course is the kind of record that makes trainers circle the Ascot entries in the diary before they do anything else. Some horses just suit a track, and Mount Atlas clearly loves this one.

He is also at his best when given a proper trip. Over a mile and three furlongs to a mile and four, he wins roughly 1 in every 3 races — 3 wins from 9 attempts. Ask him to do something shorter and you are probably not seeing the best of him.

His recent form reads 2-2-4-2-9-1, and that is genuinely encouraging. Ignore the nine for a moment — every horse has an off day — because the overall picture is of a horse who keeps turning up and finishing close to the front. He raced just one day ago, so he is bang in form and his trainer clearly has him fresh in mind.

That trainer is Andrew Balding, based at the famous Kingsclere yard in Hampshire. Balding's operation has sent out 202 winners already this season — that is not a stable ticking along quietly, that is one of the busiest and most effective yards in Britain right now. A horse like Mount Atlas, a proven Class 2 winner at Ascot with his best distances known and his form live, is exactly the kind of reliable performer a big yard depends on to keep the numbers moving. He is not flashy, but he keeps delivering when it matters.