Shallow

The standout number is at Cheltenham — wait, Chelmsford. Two wins from just three visits there is the kind of record that makes a trainer's eyes light up. Most horses take a dozen attempts to figure out a track; Shallow seems to have cracked it in three. That ratio, 2 from 3, is the sort of thing that gets noticed, and it is no coincidence that the first career win came there in February 2024. Some horses just suit a particular circuit, and Chelmsford appears to suit Shallow very well indeed.

The partnership with jockey George Wood is another thread worth pulling. Three wins from eight races together works out at 38%, or roughly 2 in every 5 rides — a number that comfortably outpaces Shallow's overall win rate and suggests these two bring out the best in each other. Spencer's yard has sent out 30 winners this season, so this is an active, functioning operation, not a small stable scraping along.

Where things get more complicated is the recent form. A second place last time out looks tidy on paper, but Shallow has not won in the last six races, with that last victory coming at Newmarket in July 2025. A tenth-month winless run is not a crisis for a horse at this level — Class 4 racing, broadly the middle tier of the sport — but the sequence of 9th and 6th in the middle of that run suggests a horse that went through a flat patch before rediscovering some form. The recent placings, a 2nd and a 3rd, hint that the winning thread may not be far away.

Racing last just one day ago, Shallow is clearly in full training and taking up its share of the workload. Five wins, a course record at Chelmsford, and a jockey who gets results — there is plenty to like here, even if the winner's enclosure has not been visited since summer.