Count Palatine

He's trained by Michael Dods at Piercebridge in County Durham, and the yard is having a productive season — 43 winners sent out already, which tells you this is a professional, well-organised operation that knows how to get horses race-ready. Count Palatine fits that profile. He's not a superstar, but he's a reliable, competitive sort who earns his keep. The level he typically runs at — Class 4, one of the mid-tier grades in British racing — suits him well. He's won 2 of his 11 races at that level, roughly 1 in every 5 or 6, which is a respectable return for a horse operating in competitive company.

His most trusted partner in the saddle is Connor Beasley, who has ridden him seven times and come away with 2 wins — that's a win rate of about 1 in every 3.5 rides together, which is genuinely strong. When Beasley is booked, it tends to mean the team fancies their chances. Count Palatine opened his account at Thirsk in September 2024, and his most recent win came at Ayr in September 2025 — two northern tracks that suit a horse based in the northeast of England. He raced just yesterday, so he's right in the thick of a busy spell.

The recent form tells a tidy story: a win, then two modest efforts, then another win, a second, and a third — all within the last six runs. That's not a horse who fluked his way into the frame; that's a horse in good nick, competing hard and finding his way back to the winner's enclosure with some regularity. At five, he's entering the years when a horse often settles into a clear identity. Right now, Count Palatine looks like a horse that rewards patience and knows exactly where he belongs.