Air Force One

The horse got off the mark at Navan in May 2024, but the most recent victory came at Beverley in April 2026, just six weeks ago. Beverley is a tight, quirky track in East Yorkshire that catches plenty of horses out, so winning there is worth something. That win has kept things ticking over nicely heading into the summer.

The trickier part of the picture is what happens when the level goes up. Air Force One has tried five times in Class 2 company — some of the better races in Britain — and has yet to get his nose in front, losing all five. That is not unusual for a horse operating just below the top tier, but it does suggest he is at his best when the competition drops back slightly. The recent record reinforces that: the last six runs read 5-12-1-5-6-13, which is a mixed bag. A win sits in the middle of that sequence, but the horse has finished down the field more often than not in the latest outings, including a 12th and a 13th.

P J McDonald has been the regular partner, riding him in 7 of those 16 races and winning once together — a 14% win rate, or roughly 1 in 7. That is a workable relationship without being a particularly electric one. Trainer Geoff Oldroyd operates out of Pocklington in North Yorkshire and has had a productive season, sending out 13 winners already. A yard in that kind of form is worth paying attention to, and if Oldroyd spots the right opportunity to place Air Force One back in softer company, another win would not come as a shock. The key will be finding the right race — which, based on the evidence so far, probably means avoiding those Class 2 contests where he has repeatedly come unstuck.