Coup De Coeur

The numbers behind the jockey partnership are striking. Brian Hughes has ridden Coup De Coeur 10 times and come away with 4 wins — that's winning 4 in every 10 rides together, a 40% hit rate that most top jockeys would be delighted with at any level. When these two click, they really click. The trainer is Micky Hammond, whose yard at Middleham in North Yorkshire has sent out 25 winners this season. Hammond is a trainer who tends to place his horses well, and Coup De Coeur's record suggests this horse has been managed with care throughout its career.

Two tracks stand out in the form book. At Sedgefield, Coup De Coeur has won 2 of just 4 visits — half the time. That kind of course record is not a coincidence; it suggests something about the layout or the ground there suits this horse's way of racing. Then there's Cartmel, where Coup De Coeur won just days ago. Racing this week and winning is about as current as form gets.

The preference for normal ground — 2 wins from 5 races at 40% — is a useful detail for anyone following the horse. When conditions are fair and the track is standard, this horse performs. It mostly competes at Class 4 level, which sits in the middle tier of British racing, winning 4 of its 13 races there at a 31% rate. That's a horse that belongs at that level and knows how to win it. With a first win coming at Sedgefield back in November 2023 and victories still arriving this week, Coup De Coeur has built a career worth watching.