Crebilly

His biggest moments have come in some of the better races on the calendar. A win at Sandown Park in April 2023, followed by another top-level success at Exeter in February 2024, confirmed he is not just a horse who picks up easy races — he has twice beaten decent fields in Class 2 company, which sits among the top races in Britain. At that level specifically, he has won 2 from 8, a 25% win rate that any trainer would be satisfied with. Put simply, when the occasion has mattered, Crebilly has often delivered.

The partnership with jockey Jonjo O'Neill Jr is worth noting too. Riding together 20 times, they have landed three wins — roughly 1 in every 7 — which is a solid working relationship built on familiarity. O'Neill Jr knows this horse, and that kind of continuity matters. Both horse and jockey are trained and based out of the O'Neill yard in Cheltenham, a stable that has sent out 51 winners already this season, so clearly things are clicking.

It has not always been plain sailing. After his first run last season at Chepstow, Crebilly picked up an injury that knocked his whole campaign sideways before it had really begun. The yard also acknowledges he has not always been the most fluent when jumping fences, which is why the decision was made to bring him back over hurdles at Aintree rather than push him straight back to the bigger obstacles. The hope now is that a clear, uninterrupted run through the season lets him show his best. Given how he has performed over the last five weeks, that optimism looks well-founded.