Certain Lad

The injuries at five and six cost him dearly. A horse that had won a Listed race as a two-year-old, finished third in the Railway Stakes, and won in Dubai clearly had enormous ability — but the body kept letting him down before he could build on it. This season was supposed to be different. Channon described it as the first campaign Certain Lad has entered without carrying any physical baggage, and the team moved fast, targeting a crack at Group-level racing in France rather than sitting safely in lower-grade events that a horse with his record could probably win.

That ambition is reflected in where he now spends most of his time — Class 1 races, the very top tier of British racing. He has run eleven times at that level without winning, but his recent form (third and second in his last two finished races) suggests he belongs in that company. Jockey George Bass has partnered him in 15 of his 21 races, winning twice together, a win rate of about 1 in 7 when they combine. That kind of long-term partnership matters — Bass knows this horse.

He last won 31 months ago, and those six winless runs will raise a question mark. But Channon's plan for Certain Lad was never really about accumulating wins — it was about landing one big one. A horse that has cleared every injury hurdle to reach ten years old, still competing at the highest level, still placing, still being pointed at Group 1s, is a horse his yard clearly believes has unfinished business.