American Affair

The shape of his career is what makes him interesting. After his maiden win at Wetherby in May 2023, American Affair spent over a year finding his feet before stringing together a sequence of big wins. He took a Class 2 at Thirsk in June 2024, then Doncaster in September. Earlier this year he has been flying: Class 2 wins at Musselburgh in April and York in May, followed by a breakthrough Class 1 victory at Ascot in June. That Ascot win was particularly significant — it came just three weeks after a defeat at Haydock, and it proved to Goldie that the horse had the speed and class to compete at the very top level. Last month he won again at Goodwood, suggesting the improvement has held.

Paul Mulrennan, his regular jockey, has ridden him in 19 races and won seven of them — a 37% win rate that speaks to a strong understanding between horse and rider. The trainer has been clear that five furlongs is the sweet spot: the horse is fast, potentially quicker than many of his rivals, and appears to settle better over that sprint distance than over longer trips. His recent form reads 2-12-1-6-26-2 — a second place just six days ago — and at six years old, with four Class 1 or 2 wins in the last year alone, American Affair looks to have finally found his niche as a genuine sprint specialist. The yard, busy with 88 winners this season already, clearly knows how to put this horse into the right races.