Balmacara

Those two wins came at Doncaster, a track where Balmacara is genuinely special. He has won 2 of his 3 races there, an extraordinary win rate that marks him out as a real course specialist. His most recent victory came in April 2024, and while that is now a long time ago, trainer Eve Johnson Houghton — who runs a prolific yard of 42 winners this season from her Oxfordshire base — has made it plain she will be patient. He is waiting for proper rain. Without it, Balmacara simply does not fire, and Johnson Houghton has suggested she may ship him abroad to find the conditions he craves rather than race him on ground that does not suit.

Jockey Charles Bishop has had good moments aboard him, winning 2 of 12 races together, a respectable 17% win rate. Recent form tells a frustrating story: Balmacara has finished outside the frame in five of his last six races and has not won in that stretch. His best distance appears to be between seven furlongs and a mile — he has won 2 of 10 races at that trip. At the highest level, though, he struggles: he has never won in a top-class race. For now, Balmacara remains a prisoner of the weather, a horse whose true ability is locked away until the clouds break.