Regional is an 8-year-old trained by Edward Bethell at Middleham in North Yorkshire, a yard that has sent out 62 winners this season alone. The partnership that brought out the best in Regional was with jockey Callum Rodriguez — together they won 3 of their 11 races, or roughly 1 in every 4, which is an exceptional ratio at the highest level of the sport. That summer of 2023 tells the story clearly: a Class 2 win at York in May, then back-to-back Class 1 victories at Haydock Park in June and September. These are among the top races in Britain, and Regional won two of them in the space of three months. After the September win at Haydock, Bethell described it as "a massive performance," noting that Regional was one of the last horses to come under serious pressure — the sign of a horse with something left to give. Talk of a trip to America followed.
What made that Haydock double so striking is that Regional clearly has a relationship with that track. It is not just that the horse won there — it is that it won there looking comfortable, in a way that top-level races rarely allow. By contrast, Bethell has been candid about the limitations: a stiff six furlongs at the Curragh in Ireland was "probably not his bag," and even at Royal Ascot, where Regional came agonisingly close, the trainer acknowledged afterwards that another half-a-furlong might have changed the result. That is a very fine margin in a very fast race.
The honest picture now is that Regional has not won in six races, the last victory coming 33 months ago. The recent form shows a string of third-place finishes — consistent enough to suggest the ability is still there, but not quite close enough to the front. Overall, the career record reads 3 wins from 20 races, or roughly 1 in every 7, with 13 placed efforts telling the story of a horse that competes well without quite replicating those golden months. Regional raced just yesterday, which means the team are clearly still believing. Whether the summer of 2023 was a peak or a preview remains the question.
| Course | Races | Results | Last visited | Win rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| York Galloping |
4 | 1 win, 1 third, 2 other | 13 May | 25% |
| Haydock Park Galloping |
2 | 2 wins | 9 Sep | 100% |
| Ascot Galloping |
2 | 1 second, 1 third | 17 Jun | 0% |
| Newbury Galloping |
2 | 1 third, 1 other | 19 Jul | 0% |
| Ripon Sharp |
1 | 1 third | 25 Sep | 0% |
| Epsom Downs Undulating |
1 | 1 other | 4 Jun | 0% |
| Goodwood Undulating |
1 | 1 third | 30 Jul | 0% |
| Newcastle Galloping |
1 | 1 other | 2 Jan | 0% |
| Doncaster Galloping |
1 | 1 second | 1 Jul | 0% |
| chelmsford | 1 | 1 second | 22 Nov | 0% |
| The Curragh Galloping |
1 | 1 second | 25 May | 0% |
| Beverley Undulating |
1 | 1 other | 30 Aug | 0% |
| Kempton Park Galloping |
1 | 1 other | 5 Oct | 0% |
| meydan | 1 | 1 third | 5 Apr | 0% |