Stand Strong

That sole career win came at Newcastle on 1 August 2025, and it arrived over a long distance trip of two miles or more — which is exactly where Stand Strong looks most at home. In four races at that kind of trip, it has won once, which translates to a 25% win rate, or 1 in every 4 attempts. Compare that to its overall record and you can see the difference immediately. This is a horse that needs to be asked a proper question. Give it a real test of stamina and it gives you something back.

Most of its career has been spent at Class 5 level, which sits in the lower half of British racing's ladder. One win from 8 races at that level — around 1 in 8 — tells you this is no superstar, but it is competitive in its world. What is striking is the recent form: in the last six races, the sequence reads 5-6-2-4-1-5, with that 1 representing the Newcastle victory sandwiched in the middle. Since then the results have been less eye-catching, but Stand Strong raced just yesterday, which means Whillans clearly has this horse ticking over and ready to run.

The regular partnership with jockey Rowan Scott has not clicked yet — 0 wins from 6 races together — but that says as much about the difficulty of winning in this game as it does about either horse or rider. Whillans, for his part, is having a productive season with 28 winners from his yard already, which shows he knows how to place a horse when the opportunity is right. Stand Strong's task now is to find another race over a good long trip and remind everyone what it looked like on that August afternoon at Newcastle.