Ski Lodge

His first win came at Chepstow in January 2024, and trainer Alan King — whose yard at Wroughton has sent out 58 winners already this season, a serious operation by any measure — had bigger plans after that. But Ski Lodge picked up a respiratory problem that ruled him out in the spring, and when he was ready to run again, the ground had turned too soft for him. Racing is full of horses who lose months to bad luck rather than bad ability, and Ski Lodge is one of them. King has spoken warmly about him — describing a big, athletic horse who he expected to handle longer distances and who he believed could be a decent performer over hurdles.

The second win, at Haydock Park in December 2024, confirmed there is real ability in there. Haydock is a serious track and Ski Lodge showed up when it mattered. His best level has come in Class 4 races — one step below the top end of the sport — where he has won 2 from 6, a win rate of 33%, or roughly 1 in every 3. That is a genuinely strong record at that level and suggests he knows how to handle himself when the races suit him.

What stands out right now, though, is the recent run of form. Ski Lodge has not won in his last six races, finishing fifth, fourth, then a couple of blanks, and two seconds before that. He was racing just one day ago, so he is clearly still active and in training, but that sequence will be something the team is working to turn around. Jockey Tom Bellamy, who has ridden him in 7 of his 11 races and won once together, will know this horse well by now. The pieces are there — the trainer, the track record at Class 4, the Haydock win — and the question is simply whether Ski Lodge can find his way back to the winner's enclosure.