His one win came at Southwell in October 2024, and while that was over 20 months ago now, his trainer George Boughey isn't particularly worried about the gap. Boughey runs one of Newmarket's busiest and most successful yards — 99 winners already this season — and he clearly has a plan for this horse rather than just rolling him out whenever a race comes up. The trainer has been open about wanting to wait for the right conditions: Shah, he believes, wants fast, dry ground, and there is no point burning a run on heavy or wet going when patience could unlock something better.
And "something better" might mean Royal Ascot. Boughey has mentioned that Shah's current rating would already get him into the Britannia Stakes, one of the big competitive mile races at the meeting. That is a serious statement. The Britannia draws horses from across Europe, runs in front of enormous crowds, and is one of the highlights of the entire Flat season. The fact that Shah qualifies for it on merit, without needing anything to go his way in the entries, says a lot about the level he has been performing at — quietly, without much fuss.
His recent form reads 11-1-2-2-2, which means back-to-back wins in his two most recent races, two runner-up finishes before that, and another second before those. That run of back-to-back wins is the kind of momentum that has trainers smiling and talking about big summer targets. Shah has raced just once in the last day, so he is very much live and in training right now. Whether Ascot materialises or not, this is a horse building quietly toward something — and with a trainer firing on all cylinders this season, he looks well placed to deliver it.
| Course | Races | Results | Last visited | Win rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| York Galloping |
2 | 2 seconds | 8 Sep | 0% |
| Southwell Galloping |
1 | 1 win | 8 Oct | 100% |
| Newmarket Galloping |
1 | 1 other | 16 May | 0% |
| Leicester Sharp |
1 | 1 second | 11 Aug | 0% |