Torneo

The Chepstow racecourse story is particularly striking. Two wins from three visits there puts Torneo in rare company as a genuine course specialist, and the most recent of those wins came just days ago — this week, in fact — which makes him about as live a racing story as you can find. Snowden was candid after the race, noting that Torneo no longer has the weight-for-age allowance he had benefited from earlier in the season — essentially a head-start on older horses that younger chasers are given — but that he had still won comfortably without it. That is a meaningful step forward.

His regular jockey, Gavin Sheehan, has ridden him in 13 races and won 3, a win rate of 23% — better than 1 in every 5 together. After a run at Wetherby earlier in the season, Sheehan was refreshingly honest: the jumping was not always tidy, and he took the blame for it rather than the horse. What stood out was how he described Torneo — a fine, big horse with a lovely attitude, still a bit raw. That phrase "still a bit raw" from a jockey who knows a horse well is often the most exciting thing you can hear. It means there is more to come.

Torneo's recent form — a win, a second, and a couple of blank runs in between — paints the picture of a horse who goes well when conditions suit and when things fall right. He competes mostly at Class 4 level, where he has won 3 of 10 races, and at that level a horse this consistent and this comfortable at a specific track is exactly the kind you want to follow. He raced just yesterday. The story is still being written.