Almeric

The story starts at York in October 2024, where Almeric broke its duck in a Class 2 race, one step below the very top level. What followed was remarkable. By April 2025, it was winning a Class 1 at Newmarket — one of the sport's most famous venues and one of its most demanding tracks — and by September it had added another Class 1 at Ayr. Two wins at the highest level before the horse has even turned three is the kind of record that makes people sit up and pay attention. In the top races it has contested, Almeric has won 2 from 3, a success rate of 67%. Put simply, when it faces the best, it tends to beat them.

The recent form reads 3-9-1-1-1-4 — those three consecutive wins in the middle of that sequence tell the clearest story. A blip at the start, another at the end, but a horse that strung together three straight victories at the highest level is clearly no flash in the pan. It raced just one day ago, so this profile is being written mid-campaign, with the season very much alive.

Behind Almeric is Andrew Balding, one of British racing's most productive trainers. Operating out of Kingsclere in Hampshire, Balding's yard has sent out 204 winners in the current season alone — a volume that reflects a training operation running at serious pace. A yard that busy could easily overlook a young horse; the fact that Almeric has been pointed at the biggest races and delivered suggests the team rate this one highly.

Two years old, six races, three wins, two of them at the top level. For a horse that has barely started its career, the CV is already something to write home about.