Charles Darwin

He's a three-year-old trained by Aidan O'Brien at Cashel in Co Tipperary — one of the most powerful racing operations in the world, and one that has sent out 125 winners already this season. Within that yard, Charles Darwin has earned his place near the top of the pecking order. O'Brien describes him as "a big block of a horse — big, powerful and strong, a pure sprinter." That's not just flattery. The horse's record backs it up.

The highlight so far came on 19 June 2025, when he won a Class 1 race at Royal Ascot — one of the most prestigious meetings in British racing. Three wins in the first half of that season, including the Norfolk Stakes at Ascot, marked him out as one of the best young sprinters around. Then he missed the rest of the year, which is the kind of interruption that can derail a young horse's momentum entirely. It clearly hasn't. He returned this spring, won at Navan on 25 April, and the team immediately set their sights on the Commonwealth Cup — a top-level sprint back at Royal Ascot.

His partnership with jockey Ryan Moore is one worth noting. In six races together, Moore has ridden him to 4 wins — that's a win rate of 67%, or roughly 2 wins from every 3 rides. Moore is one of the best jockeys in the world and tends to be placed on the horses O'Brien trusts most. The fact that he keeps coming back for this one says something.

There is a question mark, though. His recent form reads 1-1-–-16-10, meaning after those back-to-back wins, his last two outings have been disappointing. After one of those runs at Naas, Moore reported that the horse lost his action mid-race — possibly after hitting a ridge in the ground and bruising a shoulder. O'Brien was cautious but optimistic: "maybe there's something there." A horse who wins half his races and has already taken a Class 1 prize at Ascot is worth following closely — if he's right physically, the Commonwealth Cup could be very much on.