New Image

The standout moment of his career came at Ascot on 10 August 2024, when he won a Class 2 race — one of the top tiers of British racing — at the Shergar Cup meeting. That is not small beer. Plenty of horses spend their entire careers without getting near that level, let alone winning there. It confirmed that when New Image is right, he belongs in good company.

What is slightly puzzling is that his last six races have produced no wins at all — a thirteenth, a third, a sixth, an eighth, a ninth, and a run the form books don't record a finish for. There are patches of promise in there (that third-place finish suggests he hasn't lost his ability completely), but there is clearly a gap between the horse who won at Ascot and where he is right now. He has gone 22 months without a victory, and at Class 2 level he has won just 1 from 6 races — roughly one in six attempts — which tells you how hard it is to land a race at that standard consistently.

Trainer David O'Meara is not a man who panics. Based at Upper Helmsley in North Yorkshire, his yard has sent out 107 winners already this season — a serious operation by any measure. Speaking recently, O'Meara confirmed New Image had come back from his break in good shape, and was given a quiet introduction over seven furlongs at Musselburgh simply to blow away the cobwebs. Crucially, O'Meara flagged the Victoria Cup at Ascot as a potential target for his second run back — a competitive seven-furlong race that suits the horse's profile. A stiff seven at Ascot or a sharp mile at York are both on the radar.

On normal ground New Image has won 2 from 4 races — a 50% win rate that is genuinely striking. If the ground comes up right and the Ascot target materialises, the Shergar Cup winner might just have one more big day left in him.