Brian

Brian's biggest moment came on 24 August 2024, when he won the Newmarket (July) meeting in a Class 2 race — one of the better races you will find outside the very top tier of British racing. His first win had come just six weeks earlier at Newbury in July, so for a brief window in the summer of 2024, Brian looked like a horse on the rise. The problem is that he has not won since. His last six races have produced a best finish of second, with a string of seventh, eighth, and tenth-place efforts in between — and he typically lines up in Class 1 company, the very highest level, where he has yet to trouble the judge in seven attempts. That is a tough neighbourhood, and the results show it.

Where Brian does his best work is over the shorter distances — between five furlongs and six and a half furlongs — where he has won 2 of his 11 races at those trips, a win rate of around 18%. Jockey Liam Keniry has been the man in the saddle for much of his career, riding him to both his wins from eight races together, which means the partnership clicks when conditions are right. The yard itself is in decent form, having sent out 17 winners this season, so the platform is there.

Raced just yesterday, Brian is clearly still being kept busy and given every chance to rediscover his best. Whether he can find his way back to the winners' enclosure — and do it against the highest-class rivals he now routinely faces — is the open question. A horse that won at Newmarket in Class 2 company has proven it belongs. Proving it again, almost two years on, is the challenge.