Count Of Vendome

He is trained by Donald McCain at Cholmondeley in Cheshire, a yard that has sent out 55 winners already this season — so this is not a small operation stumbling onto something good. McCain knows what a proper racehorse looks like, and by his own account, Count Of Vendome was something of a pioneer for the stable: the first horse put through a new approach of buying young horses and developing them carefully into the finished article. That investment of time and patience is paying off in style.

The six-year-old has won 4 of his last 6 races, with his most recent victory coming at Haydock Park just this week. His partnership with jockey Brian Hughes is one of the clearest reasons for that consistency — the two have won 4 times from 7 races together, a win rate of 57%, or just over 1 in every 2 rides. That is an exceptional figure. Most top jockey-and-horse combinations would be delighted with 1 in 3.

The one condition that really brings out the best in Count Of Vendome is wet, slightly soft ground — and the numbers here are almost absurd. On that surface, he has won all 3 races he has entered. A perfect record. When the ground comes up soft, this horse simply does not get beaten. It is the kind of stat that makes a trainer's job easier: you know exactly when to aim him.

His path to this point has not been entirely smooth — a head injury ahead of what looked like a big opportunity at Aintree was the kind of frustrating setback that can derail a young horse's momentum. It did not derail this one. Count Of Vendome is still described by McCain as a little babyish, which is almost a thrilling thought given what he has already achieved. If a horse this good still has more to give, the next chapter of his racing career looks very interesting indeed.