Blackisthenewblack

The breakthrough came at Kempton Park on 30 April 2026, and it arrived over a distance of around a mile and three to four furlongs — which turns out to be exactly where this horse looks most at home. In three races at that trip, Blackisthenewblack has won once and placed, giving it a win rate of 33% over that distance, or roughly 1 in every 3 races. That is a genuinely strong number, and it suggests that when conditions and trip align, this is a horse capable of competing. The shorter distances earlier in its career may simply have caught it before it had time to fill out and settle into its stride.

The yard behind it is worth noting. Andrew Balding, based at Kingsclere in Hampshire, has sent out 202 winners already this season — a figure that speaks to an operation firing on all cylinders. Balding is a trainer who has a strong track record of developing three-year-olds through a campaign, so the fact that Blackisthenewblack is still active, having raced just one day ago, suggests the team see more improvement to come. A horse in the care of a yard this productive is rarely kept busy without reason.

Seven races in at three years old, one win banked, and a distance that suits — Blackisthenewblack is still very much a work in progress, but a convincing one. If the team keep stepping it back up to that mile-and-a-half territory, more wins could follow before the season is out.