Stencil

That sole victory came at Chepstow on 27 January 2026, and it matters more than a single win usually would. Stencil is regularly asked to compete in some of the top races in Britain — Class 1 level — and has come up short in all three attempts at that standard, which is no disgrace. The very best races are brutally competitive, and the fact that the team keeps entering Stencil there suggests they believe the ability is present, even if the results haven't yet followed at the highest level.

What is encouraging is the recent trajectory. Reading the last six runs from most recent to earliest — a non-finish, then 10th, 1st, 2nd, 5th, and 15th — there is a clear upward curve buried in those numbers. The win and a runner-up finish sit back-to-back in the sequence, pointing to a horse that had genuinely clicked into form for a period. The yard itself has sent out 4 winners this season, so this is an operation producing results, and Stencil contributed one of them.

Based in France but racing in Britain, Stencil raced just yesterday and remains very much an active proposition. Two months have passed since that Chepstow win, and the challenge now is whether the horse can recapture that form and, eventually, translate it into something at the very top level. For a horse still learning its trade at five, that is far from an unreasonable ambition.