Arranmore

The partnership with jockey Aiden Brookes is the most important relationship on Arranmore's CV. Together they have won 2 of their 28 races — a 7% win rate, or roughly 1 in every 14 — and both of the horse's career victories have come with Brookes in the saddle. That kind of loyalty between horse and rider often matters more than people realise. When you see Brookes booked, you know conditions are right.

And conditions do matter enormously here. On normal ground, Arranmore wins 2 from 13 — around 1 in every 6 races, a 15% win rate that is dramatically better than its overall record and suggests this horse is genuinely competitive when the track is riding as it should. Add in the distance sweet spot of one mile three furlongs to one mile four furlongs, where it has won 2 of 9 races (22%, or better than 1 in every 5), and you have a horse with a surprisingly sharp profile once the right variables line up.

What is harder to explain is the class puzzle. Arranmore has never won at Class 5 — the level it races at most often — going 0 from 17 at that grade. Both wins came when the horse stepped slightly outside that band. Trainer Micky Hammond, based in Middleham and having a productive season with 31 winners on the board, clearly knows something about placing this horse, because those wins did come. The most recent was at Southwell in March 2026, and with Arranmore having raced as recently as yesterday, there is clearly still plenty left in the tank. For a nine-year-old with 49 races behind it, that in itself is worth something.