Empire Of Light

Trained by Grant Tuer at his yard in Birkby, North Yorkshire — a team that has sent out 29 winners already this season — Empire Of Light is described by his trainer as genuinely talented but frustrating. The feeling from the yard is that he is well placed in the ratings and has been a little underestimated by the handicapper, which in racing terms means he has been given a chance to beat horses he really ought to be beating. That is exactly the kind of quiet confidence that precedes a winning streak.

The conditions matter enormously with this horse. On fast, dry ground, he has won 2 from 5 races — a 40% win rate — and he thrives at a distance of one mile and three to four furlongs, where he has won 3 of his 6 races at that trip. That is a remarkable 50% record, meaning he wins one in every two races when conditions suit him perfectly. His assistant trainer noted after one win that heavy ground had been the problem on a previous run — he is a big, powerful horse who needs a decent surface to show his best.

Haydock Park has become his favourite venue. He has won 2 of his 5 races there, which sounds simple enough until you consider how hard it is for any horse to dominate a track consistently. His most recent win came at Thirsk just four weeks ago, and he raced again only yesterday — so this is a horse very much in the middle of a campaign, fit, active, and in the form of his life.

Most of his races have come at Class 4 level — the solid middle ground of British racing — where he has won 2 from 10, a 20% rate. His regular jockey Harrison Shaw has ridden him in 10 of those races for 1 win, so the partnership is still building. With the yard confident, the ground likely to dry out into summer, and a horse who already knows how to win, Empire Of Light looks like one to follow over the coming weeks.