Willowinghurn

The two wins tell an interesting story on their own. The first came at Redcar in May 2025, and the second at Musselburgh in October — both on the northern circuit, which fits neatly with its base at David O'Meara's yard in Upper Helmsley, North Yorkshire. O'Meara is one of the more productive trainers in the country right now, having sent out 107 winners already this season, so Willowinghurn is operating within a yard that clearly knows how to get horses ready to win. The best of this horse tends to come over 7 furlongs to a mile, where it has won 1 from 4 races — a 25% win rate that is genuinely solid at that trip.

Most of its racing has been at Class 5 level — the bread-and-butter end of the sport rather than the glamour end — and it has won 2 of its 7 races there, which works out at 29%, or nearly 1 in 3. That is actually a healthy record at that level and suggests Willowinghurn is competitive when pitched in at the right grade. The challenge is that recent form has tailed off: the last six runs read 2-1-8-9-7-8 in reverse chronological order, meaning it won in October but has finished mid-pack in its four most recent outings. Whether that represents a horse that needed a rest, a change of conditions, or simply one that hasn't found the right race yet is the question the team will be working to answer.

Regular jockey Mark Winn has ridden it five times without a win, which is a little puzzling given the horse has clearly shown it can get to the front. Willowinghurn raced just one day ago, so it is firmly in the thick of its season — and with a yard in that kind of form behind it, another winning opportunity may not be far away.