Banana

The career numbers are honest rather than flattering: 2 wins and 20 places from 60 races in total, a win rate of around 3%, or about 1 in every 30 outings. That said, 20 places from 60 races means Banana has finished in the frame a third of the time, which suggests a horse that is consistently thereabouts without quite getting its nose in front. It has been competitive — just rarely decisive.

The two wins tell an interesting little story. The first came at Bath on 5th May 2025, which counts as a breakthrough moment for a horse that had waited a long time for it. The second arrived at Chepstow on 11th July 2025 — but that was now a full year ago, and Banana has gone the last six races without adding to the tally. Recent form reads 2-10-2-4-10-5 (most recent first), which is a mixed picture: two second-place finishes in there suggest the ability is still present, but so are a couple of tens that point to days when things just did not click.

Kieran O'Neill rides Banana most regularly, the pair having teamed up 13 times for 1 win together — winning roughly 1 in every 13 races as a partnership, which is a modest return but not unusual at this level. The horse is trained by Scott Dixon at Rolleston in Nottinghamshire, a yard that has sent out 33 winners this season, so the operation clearly knows how to get horses winning. Banana raced just yesterday and remains active, which matters — this is a horse that keeps showing up. At seven years old and with that level of experience, you know exactly what you are getting: a genuine, hard-trying animal that will find its moments, even if they do not come often.