Zuffolo

Trained by Michael Dods at Piercebridge in County Durham, Zuffolo has spent most of its career knocking on doors without quite breaking through consistently. From 45 races it has won seven and placed 16 times, a win rate of roughly 1 in every 6 runs. That's respectable enough at the level it competes at, mostly Class 5 races where it has won 3 of 23 attempts. But the real story is the contrast between Zuffolo at different tracks and in different conditions. On normal or wet ground it is an ordinary horse; on fast, dry ground it transforms. The preference is so pronounced that it almost reads as a template: find Ripon or somewhere similar with baked earth, put the horse in, and watch it deliver.

Its recent form has been patchy — a win last time out, but before that a series of mid-field finishes and some heavy defeats. The partnership with regular rider Connor Beasley has not yielded a winner in 12 attempts, though that is more a comment on bad luck or timing than any failing on either side. At six years old and having raced since April 2022, Zuffolo is past its peak years, but horses like this one — specialist racers who find their groove at certain venues — often keep winning into their later seasons simply because they know exactly what to do when conditions favour them.