Pretending

The highlights on her record are genuinely impressive. She has won twice at Class 2 level — one of the top tiers of racing in Britain — including a win at Cheltenham in April 2024, which is about as prestigious a venue as the sport offers, and another at Uttoxeter six months later. Two wins at that level tells you this is not a horse scraping around at the bottom of the sport. Her most recent win came at Market Rasen in February 2026, just two months ago, so she arrives in her current campaign with form that still matters.

She is trained by Lucy Wadham, whose yard in Newmarket has sent out 18 winners already this season — a strong operation in good shape. Wadham has been candid about where Pretending stands right now: the horse is rated above her last winning mark, which in practical terms means the race conditions are slightly stacked against her until her official weight allowance catches up with her performances. As Wadham put it, life is a bit tough for her at the moment. She also ran a race at Kempton recently where she appeared to tire sharply late on, suggesting she needed that outing to build fitness.

Bryony Frost has been her most regular rider, partnering her in 9 of her 29 races for 1 win — roughly 1 in every 9 together, which is a modest return, though the numbers across a small sample don't always tell the full story. At Class 2 level specifically, Pretending has won 2 from 9 attempts, a 22% win rate, or just over 1 in every 4 — better than her overall career average and a sign she tends to find something extra when the race quality rises. That is the mark of a horse worth watching.