Tropical Storm

The York record deserves to be read slowly: 2 wins from just 4 races at the track. That means Tropical Storm has won half of its top-level races at that particular venue, which for a horse with an otherwise modest career record is genuinely remarkable. Most horses never win a Class 1 race at all. This one has won two, both in the space of nine months, and both at the same course. The first came on 24 August 2024 — Tropical Storm's first career win — and the second followed on 15 May 2025. A debut at the top table, and then a return to prove it was no fluke.

The wider picture is more complicated. Outside York, Tropical Storm has not found the winner's enclosure, and recent form has been patchy — finishing 14th twice and 9th and 8th in a run of six consecutive races without a win. That sequence suggests a horse that perhaps needs everything to fall right: the right track, the right conditions. On fast, dry ground, the record sharpens considerably — 2 wins from 6 races, or roughly 1 in 3, compared to nothing on wetter surfaces.

Jockey Oisin Murphy has been the regular partner, riding Tropical Storm in 11 of those 15 races and picking up both wins. That loyalty between horse and rider matters — Murphy clearly knows what this horse needs and when to ask for it. The trainer is Andrew Balding, whose yard at Kingsclere in Hampshire has been in outstanding form, sending out 202 winners this season alone. Tropical Storm may not be the stable's headline act, but it earns its keep at the very top level when conditions suit.

At four years old and still active — it raced just yesterday — there is every reason to think the York story is not finished. When the ground dries out and the calendar brings the big meetings around, Tropical Storm is the kind of horse worth keeping a close eye on.