Charisma Cat

What makes the record even more striking is where those wins have come. Charisma Cat has been pitched repeatedly into Class 1 races — the top tier of British racing — and has won 1 from 4 at that level, a 25% win rate. Beating the best horses in the country one time in every four attempts is genuinely hard to do, and it explains why this horse keeps getting invited back to the big table. The standout moment so far was a Class 1 success at Sandown Park in March 2025, the kind of win that announces a horse as a serious player.

Recent form confirms everything is pointing in the right direction. Over the last six races the record reads 1-2-blank-1-2-2: two wins, three runner-up finishes, and one race where the horse didn't complete. That is relentless consistency at the sharp end, and it culminated in a win at Newbury just last week — Charisma Cat is as fit and in form as it has ever been. Eight days between that win and now is a tight turnaround, but the signals are all positive.

A huge part of the story is the partnership with jockey Tom Cannon. Together they have won 4 of their 6 races, a win rate of 67% — two wins from every three rides. That is the kind of number that makes trainers and owners very reluctant to change anything. Alan King, who trains the horse from his yard in Wroughton, Wiltshire, clearly knows what he has here. King's team has sent out 57 winners already this season, which places him firmly among the leading trainers in the country — this is not a horse stumbling into occasional glory by accident. It is a well-managed, peaking racehorse, working with a jockey it clearly clicks with, trained by one of the best outfits in Britain.