Yes Day

At Class 4 level, which is where Yes Day tends to operate, the horse has won 2 of 9 races, a win rate of just over 1 in 4. That is a much more encouraging figure, and it tells you something useful: Yes Day is competitive when the opposition is right. The trick is finding the right race, on the right day, in the right conditions — and that is something the team at Cheltenham know better than most. Jonjo O'Neill Sr and his son AJ have sent out 51 winners this season, which is a yard operating at real momentum.

The most recent win came at Exeter in March 2025, though it now sits 13 months in the past, and the last six races have produced no victories — the most recent run, just yesterday, resulted in a pulled-up finish. That is not the form of a horse in raging good health, and the trainer has been candid about it. There was a fall at Ludlow on his comeback that probably cost him a win, and at Wetherby he simply got outpaced when the race quickened. The trainer's honest assessment after a run at Hereford — describing it as "a poor race" with no immediate plans — suggests a team happy to bide their time rather than throw the horse in somewhere unsuitable.

What the trainer does have in mind is one of the regional nationals: those long-distance, stamina-sapping races held at tracks across the country that suit horses with a bit of grit and a good engine. Whether the ground is kind enough to bring that version of Yes Day out will be the key question. On normal to fast ground he will have his chance. On wet or muddy terrain, things get harder.

Jonjo O'Neill Jr has ridden Yes Day in 14 of his races together, winning once — 1 from 14 is a modest return, but this is a partnership that has lasted, and familiarity counts for something when a horse needs gentle handling rather than driving. Yes Day is not flashy. He is the kind of horse you warm to slowly.