Cotai Belle

Her two wins came at Wetherby in June 2025 and Haydock Park in July 2025, both earlier this year. Since that Haydock win, she has gone six races without winning — including those three straight runner-up finishes that will have been quietly driving her team at Musley Bank absolutely mad. Before that consistent placing run, there were a couple of much tougher days when she finished eighth, ninth, and even twenty-first, so the improvement back to regularly threatening the front is genuinely encouraging rather than just frustrating.

She is trained by Richard and Peter Fahey, one of the well-established yards in North Yorkshire, and they have been in fine form this season — 23 winners sent out already, which is a healthy return. A yard firing at that rate tends to know what it is doing with a horse, and keeping Cotai Belle active and competitive rather than hiding her away suggests they still believe there is a win coming. She raced just one day ago, so she is fit, busy, and clearly being campaigned with purpose.

The one area where she has not yet delivered is at the top level of British racing. In three attempts at Class 2 races — among the best contests in the country — she has not won once. That is not a disaster for a three-year-old; those races are genuinely tough, and simply getting placed at that level would be a result. But it does suggest that when the very best turn up, she is still learning how to beat them. Whether those three recent second places are a sign she is closing the gap, or just a sign she is very good at being nearly good enough, is the question her team will be hoping to answer soon.