Ararat

The six-year-old is trained by Rachel Cook and John Bridger at Liphook in Hampshire, a yard that has sent out 7 winners this season. His biggest moment came at Chelmsford in August 2024, when he won a Class 2 race — one of the better races in Britain — and posted a time that impressed his trainer. That performance prompted talk of a trip to Ascot, which tells you how seriously the team were taking him at that point. His first career win had come at Newmarket in June 2023, where the then-trainer David Simcock described him as capable "on his day" — a phrase that has followed Ararat around like a reputation he cannot quite shake.

What the record does show is that he has a genuine home at Southwell. He has won 2 of his 5 races there, which means he wins 40% of the time at that track — double his overall rate. His last win came at Southwell in October 2025, nine months ago, and that course form is the most reliable thing about him. He also goes well on normal ground conditions, winning 3 of his 12 races on a standard surface, a win rate of 25%, which is meaningfully better than his overall figures.

His recent form reads 13-3-4-6-7-4 — that is, a 13th place in his most recent race, a third and a fourth before that, and nothing better than sixth in the three runs before those. He has not won in his last six outings. Jamie Spencer has ridden him five times and won once, a 20% win rate that is actually above Ararat's career average. He raced just yesterday, so he is firmly in training and active. The talent is clearly there. Whether he can pull it together consistently enough to add to his five wins is the question his team have been asking for years.