Amenon

The most striking thing about Amenon's record right now is the gap since that win. It happened in May 2024, which means he last crossed the line first almost two years ago — and he has not raced at all in the past 12 months. A year off the track at any age raises questions, but at ten, when most horses are already in the later stages of their careers, it makes the path back to the racecourse a steeper one. The clock is not exactly on his side.

His recent form before that absence was mixed. In his last six races, he managed one win — that Huntingdon success — but also registered a couple of sixth-place finishes either side of it, and one run where he did not complete the course. That kind of inconsistency makes him difficult to back with confidence. His most common partner has been jockey Harry Cobden, but in six races together they have yet to find the winner's enclosure, a record of 0 from 6 that tells its own story.

Perhaps most revealing is his record at the level he typically competes at. In eight races at Class 4 — a solid but unspectacular tier of British racing — Amenon has not won once. That means his only career victory actually came in a different context, which is an oddity worth noting. It suggests he is capable of finding his best on the right day at the right track, but that reproducing it consistently has proved elusive.

Huntingdon clearly brings out something in him, and that one win there will always give his trainer a reason to keep the faith. But with a year off the track, a modest overall record, and a birthday that puts him firmly in veteran territory, Amenon will need to show he has genuinely kept something in reserve. Plenty of racehorses have surprised people at ten. Whether he is one of them remains to be seen.