Spirit Genie

His record at the highest level tells the real story. He has competed in top-class races ten times but won only once, that victory coming at Chester in May 2024. At this grade, one win from ten races represents genuine achievement—the margin between the elite and everyone else is razor-thin. He tends to run well without winning: he has placed ten times across his career, meaning he finishes in the frame roughly as often as he hits the post first. His trainer, Jennie Candlish, runs a powerful yard from Basford in Staffordshire that has already sent out 64 winners this season, and she has kept Spirit Genie in active work at an age when many horses are winding down.

What stands out in his recent record is the uptick in form. After a long absence, he returned to the track with two consecutive placings at respectable distances before landing that Pontefract win just days ago. George Wood, his most regular rider, has partnered him in twelve races and won twice together—exactly in line with the horse's overall win rate. Candlish has always seen Spirit Genie as a horse suited to a distance of around a mile to a mile and a quarter, and at six years old, with a major win already under his belt this year, he remains capable of surprising at the right venue.