Cephalus

Across a career of 43 races, Cephalus has won 10 times and finished in the places a further 14 times — meaning he has given his the yard something to cheer in almost half his races overall (24 out of 43). That is a genuinely solid career for a horse competing at this level, and his earnings tell the story of a reliable, consistent performer rather than a spectacular one. His first win came at Chelmsford back in December 2021, when he was three years old, and he has kept finding his way to the winner's enclosure ever since.

Most of those wins have come with Tom Queally in the saddle. The pair have raced together 26 times, winning 6 of them — roughly 1 in every 4 races as a partnership, which is a meaningful bond in racing. When a jockey keeps coming back to the same horse, it usually means there is a mutual understanding, and Queally clearly knows how to get the best out of him.

The honest caveat is that Cephalus has struggled at the level he most often competes at — Class 4, roughly the middle tier of British racing — winning just 1 of 15 races at that grade, a win rate of around 7%, or about 1 in every 15. That gap between his overall record and his record at Class 4 suggests he performs best in more specific circumstances, Newcastle on a good day being the obvious example. His last six runs have produced nothing better than sixth place, and the numbers — 10th, 9th, 8th, 10th, 9th, 6th — paint a picture of a horse not quite firing at the moment.

Trained by Chelsea Banham at a small yard in Cowlinge, Suffolk — a yard that has sent out 8 winners this season — Cephalus raced just yesterday and is very much an active runner. Catch him at Newcastle, and he becomes a different proposition entirely.