The Wizard Of Eye

His biggest win came at Kempton Park in November 2022, when he landed a Class 1 race — one of the top races in Britain — on his first ever visit to that track. He then went and won a Class 2 at Ascot in May 2024, confirming that he belongs at the highest level. The bulk of his career has been spent in Class 1 company, where he has won just 1 from 12 races, or roughly 1 in every 12 — tough going by any measure, but he has been competing against the best throughout.

He is trained by Tom Clover at Newmarket, a yard that has sent out 23 winners this season alone. Clover has spoken candidly about a setback the horse suffered after Royal Ascot, where he felt the horse was unlucky, caught in a difficult spot by the draw. Getting a horse back to his best after a disrupted run takes patience and skill, and jockey Tom Marquand made the point after The Wizard Of Eye's most recent win that the team had done an excellent job to have him in such sharp order. Marquand, who admitted he held on for half a furlong longer than felt comfortable in the race, called the horse "very talented" and suggested even better days may be ahead.

That win came just this week — at Ascot, naturally — making 2 wins from his last 6 races, including a ninth-place finish and a third sandwiched in between. He clearly finds his best form on normal ground, winning 2 of 7 races in those conditions. David Egan, who rides him most often, has won 1 of their 6 races together. At seven years old, The Wizard Of Eye is no youngster, but horses who love a specific track and rise to big occasions tend to keep finding ways to be relevant. Ascot seems to bring out something special in him, and with Clover plotting his next move carefully, there is every reason to think he is not done yet.