The Newest One

The most eye-catching detail in that record is the Cheltenham win. That came on 25 October 2024 — and Cheltenham matters. It is one of the most demanding tracks in Britain, a place where plenty of horses with stronger records on paper simply fall apart. Winning there at Class 3 level, which is a solid tier of competition, says something real about what this horse can do on its best day. Normal ground brings out the best in it too: on a standard surface, The Newest One has won 2 of its 8 races — a 25% win rate, which is genuinely strong and well above its overall average.

The current run of form is harder to put a positive spin on. Six races without a win, the most recent outing just a day ago, and a sequence that reads as two near-misses and a few distant finishes. At 11, horses do not tend to rediscover their peak, so the honest question is whether that Cheltenham win last October was a final flourish or simply the last good day in a longer story that is still being written.

Sam Twiston-Davies has been in the saddle for 11 of its 27 races — they clearly trust the combination — but together they have won just once, about 1 in every 11 rides. The training yard of Nigel and Willy Twiston-Davies at Naunton in Gloucestershire is in fine form this season, having sent out 61 winners, so it is not a question of the operation being in poor shape. The Newest One is simply a horse that has its moments, and the team clearly believe another one might still be coming.