Dalileo

The overall record works out at roughly 1 win in every 11 races across a long career, which sounds modest until you look at what has been happening lately. Two wins from the last six races is a completely different story — that is a horse running near the top of its game, not winding down. The most recent of those wins came at Perth just this week, which means Dalileo heads into whatever comes next on the back of a genuine high. For a horse who only picked up his first career win at Perth back in June 2024, it is a track that has clearly been good to him.

The bulk of Dalileo's racing life has been spent in Class 5 company — the entry-level tier of British racing, where horses tend to be competing for modest prizes rather than glory. Three wins from 24 races at that level, a win rate of around 12%, is perfectly respectable. A career prize fund of this kind tells you this is a horse built for consistency rather than headline moments, and there is real value in that. Not every competitor needs to be a superstar.

Peter Kavanagh has been in the saddle for 26 of those 55 races, which makes him very much Dalileo's regular partner. Three of the horse's five wins have come with Kavanagh riding — that 12% win rate together is actually better than the overall career average, which suggests the two have developed something of an understanding. Trainer Lisa Harrison has sent out 5 winners this season from her yard, and Dalileo accounts for two of them in the last six runs alone. That is a meaningful contribution from one horse to a small operation.

What stands out most about Dalileo is the timing. Plenty of 11-year-olds are winding their careers down; this one is racing at the top of its recent form, winning this week, and showing absolutely no sign of calling it a day. At this stage of the game, that is more than enough reason to keep watching.