Caballo De Mar

The most striking thing about Caballo De Mar is what happens when it goes to Southwell, a track in Nottinghamshire built on an all-weather synthetic surface. Four races there, four wins. A perfect record. That is not a coincidence — some horses just click with a particular track's layout, surface, or long sweeping bends, and Southwell seems to suit this horse down to the ground. It also thrives at longer distances, winning 2 of its 3 races over two miles or more, which suggests it genuinely relishes a test of stamina rather than pure speed.

The quality of those wins matters too. Both of its most recent victories — at Southwell in April and at Haydock in May 2025 — came in Class 2 races, which sit right near the top of the British racing pyramid. Winning at that level, twice in the space of a month, signals that this is not a horse picking off easy opportunities. It is competing against good animals and beating them.

Jockey Callum Shepherd has been the regular partner, and the numbers tell their own story: 5 wins from 12 races together, a win rate of 42%, or almost 1 in every 2 rides. That kind of consistency between horse and rider builds into something more than coincidence — they clearly work well together. Behind the scenes, trainer George Scott's Newmarket yard has been in sharp form, sending out 53 winners this season alone, so Caballo De Mar is coming back from a six-month break with a confident team around it.

That break is the one unknown. The horse has not raced for roughly six months — 204 days to be precise — which means it returns slightly unknown. Horses can come back sharper or ring-rusty after a long absence. But given the winning streak that preceded the break, two top-level wins in consecutive months on its preferred normal ground conditions, the signs point toward a horse that was thriving rather than one that needed time off to recover from problems. It will be fascinating to see.