Yokkell

That last win came at Nottingham on 29 April 2025, which is now 13 months ago, and the most recent six runs have produced finishes of 5th, 3rd, 6th, 6th, 7th, and 8th. The third place is encouraging — it shows the spark is not entirely gone — but the overall picture is of a horse searching for its best form. Trainer Adrian Wintle, based at Westbury-On-Severn in Gloucestershire, will be well aware of that. His yard has sent out 30 winners already this season, so the operation is clearly in good health; it is just a matter of finding the right opportunity to get Yokkell back into the winner's enclosure.

The place to find that opportunity might be Dundalk. Yokkell has won 3 of its 9 races there — that is one in every three, which is a remarkable record for any horse at any track. Course specialists are genuinely valuable in racing: some horses simply love a particular venue, its surface, its shape, the way it rides. Whatever Dundalk offers, Yokkell responds to it. First career win came at Tipperary back in August 2022, and the horse has clearly been a reliable performer at Irish tracks in particular.

Jockey Siobhan Rutledge has the clearest understanding of what makes Yokkell tick. In 11 races together they have won 3 times — that is 27%, or roughly 1 in every 4 rides, which is a genuinely strong partnership record. When Rutledge is in the saddle, the numbers improve noticeably. The horse also shows promise over longer trips of two miles or more, winning 1 from 4 at those distances — a 25% win rate — which suggests stamina is an asset rather than a weakness.

Raced just one day ago and still active, Yokkell is a horse in the middle of its story rather than at the end of it. The wins are there in the record, the course form at Dundalk is hard to ignore, and with the right conditions and the right jockey, another one does not feel far away.