Port Noir

The horse operates mostly at Class 6 level, which is the entry-level tier of British racing — the kind of races where margins are tight and consistency matters more than star quality. At that level, Port Noir has won 7 of its 62 races, or roughly 1 in every 9. That might not sound earth-shattering, but stick with any horse for 62 races and you quickly appreciate how hard it is to win at all. Its best distance is a mile and one to two furlongs — a specific sweet spot where it has won 6 times from 33 races, around 1 in every 5 attempts. When the conditions and the trip line up, this horse delivers.

What is genuinely striking is what happens when the ground gets wet. On slow, muddy ground, Port Noir has won 2 of just 5 races — a 40% win rate that any trainer would envy. Most horses tolerate soft ground rather than thrive on it; this one seems energised by it. There is also a Kempton Park connection worth noting: 2 wins from 5 visits to that track suggests a real affinity for the place, and those numbers are too consistent to be coincidence.

Recent form reads 7-3-1-6-1-7, meaning two wins from the last six races — a lively return to form for a horse this far into its career. The most recent win came at Wolverhampton on 9 April 2026, just four weeks ago, which is almost exactly where the story began — Port Noir's very first win came at Wolverhampton back in September 2021. Jockey Darragh Keenan has ridden the horse 11 times for just 1 win together, so that particular partnership has yet to truly click. But with a race just yesterday, Port Noir is clearly still in the thick of things — and still very much worth watching when the rain comes down.