Al Hussar

Trained by Grant Tuer at his yard in Birkby, North Yorkshire — a stable that has sent out 26 winners already this season — Al Hussar has a career win rate of around 19%, meaning he wins roughly 1 in every 5 races. That is a perfectly solid record at Class 4 level, where the competition is competent without being elite, though even there he has only converted 2 of his 10 races into wins. The horse seems to need things to fall right. When they do, he delivers.

His most fruitful partnership has been with jockey Sam James, who has ridden him 8 times and won on 3 of those occasions — a win rate of 38%, or just over 1 in every 3 rides together. That is more than double his overall career average, which suggests the combination suits him. James clearly knows what makes this horse tick.

Tuer has been candid about a frustrating spell. Al Hussar is quick — the trainer wants him in fast conditions over the minimum trip of five furlongs — and for a chunk of the year he was carrying too much weight in the ratings to be competitive. A bout of ringworm slowed his season further. But Tuer noted back in the autumn that he was starting to look well handicapped again, and the Thirsk win this week suggests that patience has paid off. He also handles an all-weather surface, which gives the team flexibility when the turf season winds down.

His first career win came at Doncaster in May 2024, and he has added four more since. The arc here is a horse that clearly has ability, races at a level where he is genuinely competitive, and is currently in the kind of form — placed or winning in nearly every run — that makes him worth watching over the coming weeks.