Ebony Maw

Trained by Ewan Whillans out of a small yard in Hawick in the Scottish Borders, Ebony Maw is part of an operation that has sent out 28 winners already this season — a healthy return for a stable of that size and a sign that Whillans knows how to place his horses well. Ebony Maw's overall record is 5 wins from 48 races, which is roughly 1 in every 10, but that headline number undersells the picture. The horse has finished in the top three 22 times, meaning it has placed in nearly half its races and is very rarely beaten far. It competes, it fights, and it keeps showing up — it raced just yesterday.

The ground profile is interesting too. Ebony Maw has won 3 from 13 races on normal ground (23%, or nearly 1 in 4) and 2 from 8 on very wet and muddy ground (25%, also about 1 in 4). That versatility matters — plenty of horses are fragile specialists that disappear the moment conditions change. This one handles the extremes and keeps performing. What's curious, though, is its record at Class 5 — the entry-level tier of British racing — where it has run 18 times without winning once. That's the kind of quirk that makes you wonder whether it simply runs its best races when the step up in class sharpens its focus, or whether it has just been unfortunate at that level.

Recent form reads 1-3-4-7-9-3, which suggests a horse that dips in and out of its best but is clearly on the way back up after that win this week. Jockey Rowan Scott has been in the saddle for 12 of its races and won once together. If that partnership clicks at Ayr again, don't be surprised.