Royal Blaze

Royal Blaze is trained by Ewan Whillans, based up in Hawick in the Scottish Borders, which is about as far from the glamour of Newmarket or Cheltenham as you can get. That hasn't stopped the yard from having a productive season — 28 winners so far — and Royal Blaze has played its part. The horse opened its account at Leicester back in August 2023, and its most recent win came at Newcastle in September 2025. That win is now eight months ago, and the last six races have produced nothing better than a second place, with an 8th just this week. The form has gone a little cold.

What the numbers do show is that Royal Blaze is a horse that suits a very specific set of circumstances. At distances between seven furlongs and a mile, it has won 1 from 3 — that's a 33% win rate, which is genuinely impressive and suggests the horse is well suited to that middle-distance sweet spot. At Class 6 level — the entry-level tier of British flat racing — it has won 3 of its 9 races, again at 33%. That tells you this is a horse that performs when the conditions are right for it: not too far, not too short, and against the right kind of opposition.

Jockey Dougie Costello has been in the saddle for five of those 25 races and has a win on the board, winning 1 from 5 together — roughly 1 in every 5, which is a solid partnership rate. That connection matters in a sport where horse and rider chemistry can be the difference between a place and a win.

Royal Blaze raced just yesterday, so it is very much an active runner. The current winless run of six races will be something the Whillans yard will be keen to snap. A return to seven furlongs or a mile, at Class 6 level, would give this horse its best chance of getting back to winning ways.