Avicenna

Both wins have come at Doncaster, which is worth noting. His first came on 16 August 2025, and he followed it up on 12 September with a Class 1 victory — the highest level the sport offers — in a race he won by a nose. That margin tells its own story. Roger Varian, his trainer, was measured after the race, noting that Avicenna was still learning, still raw, but undeniably strong through the line and clearly ahead of schedule in his development. A horse who wins at the top level while still figuring things out is exactly the kind of prospect people get quietly excited about.

Varian is not a trainer who deals in small ambitions. His yard in Newmarket has sent out 86 winners already this season, and when he says a horse could be a Guineas candidate, it carries weight. Speaking in early April 2026, he described being genuinely happy with Avicenna's recent work and confirmed entries in four different versions of the 2,000 Guineas — the English, Irish, French, and German. The next step, he explained, is likely to be a race during Craven week at Newmarket, a traditional springboard for horses with Classic aspirations, with the Greenham Stakes as an alternative. How Avicenna performs there will shape the rest of his season.

The Guineas question is an open one, and Varian is honest about it. Winning a top race by the narrowest possible margin is wonderful, but it does not automatically make you a Guineas horse. What it does do is put you in the conversation — and right now, Avicenna is firmly in it. He has done nothing wrong in three races, he is bred to get a mile, and he is in the hands of one of the best operations in the country. There is every reason to keep watching.