Sondad

The recent form is the real story. Sondad has won three of its last six races, including a victory at York just this week. That kind of hot streak—first place, seventh, first, ninth, first, then seventeenth—tells you this is a horse with genuine appetite. The seventeenth-place finish doesn't dent the picture; even the very best racehorses have an off day. What matters is that Sondad bounced straight back to the winner's circle.

Joanna Mason, who rides Sondad most often, has steered the horse to four wins from 12 races together—a 33% win rate that suggests a strong partnership. The Easterby yard at Sheriff Hutton in North Yorkshire has been in sparkling form, sending out 55 winners already this season, and Sondad fits perfectly into that successful operation. There's one quirk worth knowing: give Sondad slightly soft ground, and the horse genuinely thrives. Two wins from three races on that going is a standout statistic. On faster ground, Sondad is far less effective. For anyone following this horse, checking the forecast before race day could be the difference between watching a winner and watching a disappointment.