Blues Emperor

The partnership with jockey Ben Coen is worth noting. In 14 races together, Coen has ridden Blues Emperor to 3 of his 5 career wins — a win rate of 21%, or roughly 1 in every 5 rides. That's meaningfully better than Blues Emperor's overall record, which suggests the two have a genuine understanding. When Coen takes the ride, something clicks.

Ground conditions matter with this horse. On normal, standard ground he has won 3 of 13 races — that same 1-in-5 ratio that seems to be his sweet spot. He has handled other conditions well enough across his career, but when the ground rides normally, he is noticeably sharper.

His most recent win came at Fairyhouse on 9 July 2025, and his career began in earnest when he broke his duck at Listowel back in September 2022. Since that Fairyhouse win, however, Blues Emperor has gone six races without finding the winner's enclosure, with recent finishes of 6th, 13th, 4th, 8th, 13th, and 6th. The 4th place shows he is not miles off the pace on his best days, but the two 13th-place finishes suggest some inconsistency crept in along the way. He raced just one day ago, so the team clearly have him in a busy spell right now.

At seven years old and with five wins to his name, Blues Emperor is an experienced racehorse who knows his job. He is not a headline act, but he is the kind of horse that keeps a small yard ticking along — reliable enough to place, capable of winning when things fall right, and clearly still in active training with more to come.