Dr Seb

What makes Dr Seb genuinely interesting is what happens when he turns up at Uttoxeter. At most tracks he is a reliable sort; at Uttoxeter he is something close to unbeatable. Two wins from three races there puts him at a 67% win rate on that course — winning 2 in every 3 times he lines up. Both career victories have come there, the first in June 2024 and the second the following July, and while the most recent of those was around two years ago, the pattern is hard to ignore. Some horses simply click with a track, whether it is the shape of the bends, the way the ground sits, or something else entirely. Uttoxeter appears to be Dr Seb's place.

He also has a strong preference for normal ground conditions, winning 2 of his 5 races on a standard surface — 40%, or 2 in every 5. His partnership with jockey Sean Bowen is similarly encouraging: across their five races together, Bowen has ridden him to both wins, a 40% win rate that is well above average and suggests the two have developed a real understanding. Bowen is one of the most in-demand jump jockeys in the country, so his continued association with Dr Seb says something.

Behind the horse is the powerful Olly Murphy yard, based in Wilmcote in Warwickshire. Murphy's operation has sent out 146 winners this season alone — a remarkable output that places it among the most productive training set-ups in Britain right now. Dr Seb's recent form reads 3-1-1-6-8-5 going back through his last six races, with those back-to-back wins sitting right in the middle of the sequence. The team clearly has him in good enough shape to keep running — and if Uttoxeter comes up on the agenda, it would be foolish to look the other way.