Two Auld Pals

Start with the ground. On wet or muddy going, Two Auld Pals has won 2 from 8 races — that is 1 in every 4. Push it further into genuinely heavy, waterlogged conditions and the record becomes 2 wins from just 5 races, which is 40%. Nearly half. That is not a coincidence; that is a horse that comes alive when others are slipping around and struggling for grip. When the rain has been falling and the ground cuts up, Two Auld Pals becomes a very different proposition.

Then there is Hexham. The small, tight track in Northumberland has been extraordinarily kind to this horse — 2 wins from just 3 visits, a record that would make almost any horse in training look like a genius. Hexham is a quirky, undulating circuit that suits certain horses in a way that harder, flatter tracks simply do not. Two Auld Pals clearly loves it there. The most recent of those wins came just this week, on 9 May 2026, which means the horse arrives in current, race-sharp form and is clearly still at or near its best.

The yard behind the horse — Lucinda Russell and Michael Scudamore, operating out of Milnathort in Perth and Kinross — has had 49 winners this season alone, which tells you this is a well-run, high-volume operation that knows how to place a horse well. The most regular jockey, Tadhg O'Shea, has yet to get the best out of Two Auld Pals in five attempts together, but given the win this week, the partnership may be ready to click.

Most of the horse's racing has come at Class 4 level — solid, competitive middle-tier races — with 3 wins from 23 starts in that grade, around 1 in every 8. Nothing earth-shattering, but consistent enough to suggest a horse that earns its keep and turns up ready to run. Add the wet weather and a trip to Hexham, and it becomes something worth watching.