Super Soldier

His only win came at Leicester back in April 2025, and since then he has gone six races without adding to that tally. On the face of it, that sounds like a horse going backwards. But look at the recent form more closely: his latest race produced a second place in a Listed race in France — that is one of the top-tier races on the calendar — and Burke came away from Chantilly believing his horse was unlucky not to win. The trainer pointed to a stop-start run through the field, getting squeezed and blocked at crucial moments, suggesting the result flattered the winner more than it reflected Super Soldier's true ability.

The other thing Burke keeps coming back to is the ground. Super Soldier, he says, wants wetter, slower conditions — and almost every time the horse has run, he has faced fast, dry ground. That is not a minor footnote; for a horse whose action and stamina suit softer going, running repeatedly on the wrong surface is a bit like asking someone to sprint in the wrong shoes. It may well explain why the win rate looks modest despite the horse clearly competing at a high level.

The numbers back up the trainer's optimism. Jockey Clifford Lee has ridden Super Soldier in 5 of his 7 races and won 1 of them — a 20% win rate together, which is actually better than the horse's overall record. Burke's yard has been in fine form this season, sending out 140 winners, so this is not a team that lacks confidence or firepower. And with Burke publicly naming the Windsor Castle Stakes — a prestigious race at Royal Ascot — as a possible next target, it is clear the team see this horse as capable of competing at the very top level. At just three years old, with his best ground likely still to come, the one win on his record might end up looking like just the beginning.