Samuel Spade

The horse performs best on normal ground, where he has won 5 of his last 16 races — a 31% win rate at that surface, nearly double his overall average. Give him firm, dry conditions and distances between a mile and six furlongs and two miles, and something clicks. He is a natural course specialist at Huntingdon too, with 2 wins from 3 races there, suggesting he has learned to read that track in a way that suits his temperament. His signature achievement came at the top level: a Class 2 win at Kempton Park on 27 December 2022, proof that he can rise to the occasion on the biggest stages.

Recent form has been patchy — he returned from a gap with a second place at Newbury, followed by scattered placings and unplaced runs — yet his trainer saw promise in that latest outing. Pauling suggested the run would clear the cobwebs away and hinted at fresh targets, possibly a staying hurdle at Haydock Park. Samuel Spade is not a horse you back blindly, but when conditions align and he finds his rhythm, he becomes something more than his average suggests. He is the type that rewards patience and an understanding of what makes him tick.