Bourbon Blues

The story started at Brighton in May 2025, where Bourbon Blues opened its account for the first time. Brighton is a quirky, undulating track that suits horses with a certain kind of determination, and that first win laid the foundation for something bigger. Five months later came the Newmarket success, a jump up in class that the horse handled without complaint. The two wins tell a story of steady progression — a horse learning its trade and stepping up when it mattered.

The numbers do show some limitations worth understanding. When Bourbon Blues has been pitched into Class 1 company — the very highest grade — it has come up short in all three attempts, posting a record of 0 from 3. That is not unusual for a young horse still finding its ceiling, but it does suggest that the sweet spot right now sits just below the very top level. At the shorter distances, between five and six-and-a-half furlongs, the record is more encouraging: 1 win from 3 races at a 33% rate, meaning it wins 1 in every 3 outings at that trip. On normal ground the record reads similarly — 2 wins from 6 races on standard conditions, again hitting at 33%, or roughly 1 in 3.

Brian Meehan trains the horse from his yard at Manton in Wiltshire, a base with a long history of producing smart racehorses. Meehan's team has sent out 12 winners already this season, so the yard is in decent form. Bourbon Blues raced just one day ago and is clearly in active work, which means there may well be more to come from a horse that already has a top-level British venue on its CV at just three years old.