Thanks Dad

Both of those wins have come at Southwell, and that is no coincidence. In 12 races at the track, Thanks Dad has won twice — that is 1 in every 6 races there, which is a much better return than the overall career record suggests. For context, across all other tracks combined, the win column is completely empty. Southwell is not just a preference; it is the whole story. The track's all-weather surface suits a certain type of horse, and Thanks Dad appears to be one of them.

Scott Dixon trains the horse from his yard in Rolleston, Nottinghamshire, and it has been a productive season for the stable — 33 winners sent out this term, which is a solid operation by any measure. The most regular partner in the saddle has been Kieran O'Neill, though their record together reads 0 wins from 7 races, so the combination has not yet clicked in the way either side would hope.

The best performances have come on normal ground — 2 wins from 19 races in those conditions, roughly 1 in every 10 — and over the shorter distances of five to six-and-a-half furlongs, where the record improves to 1 in 5. That is a meaningful detail: keep Thanks Dad on a fast surface, over a sprint trip, at Southwell, and you are looking at the horse in its element. Change any one of those variables and the numbers quickly fall away.

Recent form has been patchy — the last six runs show finishes of 10th, 10th, 13th, 9th, 1st, and 4th — but that win, at Southwell in late September 2025, is proof the ability is still there. The horse raced just yesterday, so the team clearly has it in good shape. Thanks Dad is never going to set the world alight at the top level — Class 6 is the bread-and-butter level here, the entry point of the racing ladder — but as a consistent competitor who finds a way to win when everything aligns, there is something quietly admirable about that.