Encanto Bruno

What makes that Cheltenham record even more striking is how he does it. McConnell has described him as a horse who travels almost too well — keen early, jumping big, running on pure enthusiasm — yet he still gets the job done. After his win there in October 2023, a previous trainer at the time noted that he's a far better racehorse than he is a work horse at home, which is the sort of comment that makes you smile. Some horses show you everything on the gallops and nothing on the track. Encanto Bruno is the opposite.

He also has a strong affinity with normal ground conditions, winning 4 of his 9 races on a standard surface — that's 44%, well above his overall average. McConnell has suggested he might not be as ground-dependent as people assume, and there is talk of testing him on wetter, muddier conditions in future. The yard has been in fine form this season, sending out 36 winners, and McConnell has spoken openly about Encanto Bruno having the quality to compete in Graded company — the top tier of jump racing.

The honest caveat is that he has not won in his last six races, and his most recent run came just yesterday, so the current form figures read as a cold streak rather than a peak. But Keith Donoghue, who rides him most regularly and has won 1 from 5 aboard him — 20% — knows the horse well, and the team clearly believe the talent is still there. A horse who has won two Class 2 races at Cheltenham and has McConnell targeting the biggest stages is not one to dismiss on the strength of a lean patch. When he finds his groove on a good surface at a track he loves, this horse has already shown what he is capable of.