Sunray Shadow

Skelton's operation is one of the most productive in the country right now, having sent out 194 winners this season alone, so it says something that Sunray Shadow has carved out a clear identity within it. The horse seems to thrive on normal ground — when conditions are neither too wet nor too dry, he's won 2 of his 3 races in those conditions, a 67% conversion rate that is frankly exceptional. The lesson is simple: catch him on a decent surface and you're watching a different animal.

What makes Sunray Shadow genuinely interesting is the picture Skelton has painted of him over time. After winning at Aintree, the trainer described him as "a hard horse to assess — he's always keeping a bit back." That kind of horse is tricky to read but often has more to give than the form book suggests. He then picked up a setback that cost him time, but reportedly came back bigger and stronger, with a solid run at Newbury on his return before this latest win at Huntingdon. That's a pleasing arc — absence, comeback, improvement, victory.

The one puzzle is his record at the level he most often runs at. In four races at Class 4 — the middle tier of British racing, solid but not elite — he hasn't won once. Yet he's finding the winner's enclosure elsewhere, which suggests he may simply be better suited to different race dynamics than his usual assignments offer. His regular jockey, Tristan Durrell, hasn't yet ridden him to a win in five attempts together, though the results around him have been improving. Recent form of a win, a second, and a fourth in his last three completed races points to a horse in good nick right now.

At seven, Sunray Shadow is no youngster, but he's still developing. Skelton once called him "only a baby" who "wants plenty of time" — and the evidence suggests that patience may well be rewarded.