Tailgunner Joe

Trained by Dylan Cunha out of Newmarket — a yard that has sent out 45 winners already this season, so clearly no operation short of ability — Tailgunner Joe has won 2 races from 12, which works out at roughly 1 in every 6. That is a modest headline number, but the context matters enormously. Three of those races have come against Class 1 opposition, the absolute elite of the sport, and he has yet to trouble the judge in any of them. When the competition drops slightly, however, a different horse emerges.

His first win came at Catterick Bridge in July 2025, and his second arrived at Meydan in February 2026 — two very different venues, two very different atmospheres, but the same result. That Meydan victory is only around two months old and gives the team something concrete to build on. He races over seven furlongs to a mile, and at that distance he wins 1 from every 4 attempts — 25% — which is a meaningfully better return than his overall record suggests. It hints that when conditions suit, he is genuinely competitive.

What makes the current moment intriguing is the recent form. His last six runs read 6-6-6-1-6-5 — three poor efforts, a win, then two more struggles. That solitary 1 sandwiched between a run of last-place finishes is either a flash of what he can do under the right circumstances, or a reminder of how fine the margins are at this level. He raced just yesterday, so Cunha clearly has him in good shape physically. The question is whether there is a race coming up that puts him back in the position where that February form clicks into place again.