Banbridge

His CV reads like a tour of the great jump racing venues. A Class 2 win at Cheltenham in March 2022 was the launching pad; by November that year he was back at Cheltenham winning at Class 1. Then Aintree in April 2023 — the track that hosts the Grand National meeting, one of the most famous in the sport. And then Kempton, twice, on 26 December 2024 and 13 January 2024. Kempton on Boxing Day is one of the most watched race days of the year in Britain, and Banbridge has made it his own, winning 2 of 3 races there.

Conditions matter enormously with this horse. On slightly soft ground — a touch of moisture in the surface but not genuinely muddy — he has won 3 of 5 races, a 60% win rate that is almost freakishly good. His trainer, Joseph Patrick O'Brien, whose yard at Owning Hill in County Kilkenny has sent out 154 winners this season, has been clear about it: at this stage of his career, good ground is what he needs. The destination this spring — Cheltenham or Aintree — will depend almost entirely on what the weather does.

The partnership with jockey J.J. Slevin has been central to his success. Together they have won 6 of 13 races, nearly half of everything they've tried, and it shows in the way the horse travels and jumps. His most recent Kempton run ended in a photo-finish defeat by a head-bob — Slevin described it as a fantastic run and was clearly gutted to be caught — which gives you a sense of just how tight the margins are at this level.

His last six runs read 3-2-4-4-7-1, showing a horse still capable of winning at the top but not always at his peak. He last raced 27 days ago and remains in training, with a spring target still to be confirmed. At ten, with everything depending on the right ground on the right day, every run feels like it matters.