Russian Rumour

What makes her genuinely compelling right now is her recent form. She has won 3 of her last 6 races, including a win at Nottingham just this week, and her last six results read 1-1-3-5-1-5 — a sequence that shows a horse very much in the mood. She first got her head in front at Lingfield Park back in November 2021, and that track has remained something of a happy hunting ground: 2 wins from just 4 visits there, which is a remarkable ratio and suggests the course genuinely suits the way she travels. On wet, muddy ground she has won 2 from 6 races — 1 in every 3 — and given that most horses struggle when the weather turns nasty, that is a real edge worth noting.

She is trained by Jonathan Portman at Upper Lambourn in Berkshire, a yard that has sent out 46 winners already this season — a genuinely productive operation. Her most regular partner in the saddle is jockey Olivia Tubb, who has ridden her 12 times and won on 3 of those occasions, a win rate of 1 in 4. That is a meaningful partnership built up over real time together. After a win at Southwell, Tubb's then-colleague Simon Walker noted that Russian Rumour "stayed really well, kept going strongly, and handles the surface" — which tallies neatly with what her record shows about wet conditions.

Portman has spoken warmly but honestly about her, saying she owes nobody anything and has done incredibly well. There was a tricky trip to York at some point that did not go to plan, and she came back a little sore, but she has clearly bounced back. Whether she continues racing beyond this season is uncertain — Portman has hinted this may be her last campaign — but right now, in the spring of 2026, Russian Rumour is winning races and doing it with a consistency that a horse half her age would be proud of.