Estrange

What makes her record even more striking is where she has been doing it. Three of her four wins have come in the top tier of British racing — Class 1 events — and she has won half of all the top-level races she has entered. She announced herself with a visually stunning debut win at Goodwood in August 2024, the kind of performance that makes a yard sit up and reconsider their plans. Trainer David O'Meara admitted afterwards that nobody could have expected her to win in that manner, and that the lack of experience she was carrying meant she would only improve. She duly did. A setback on fast, dry ground at Yarmouth — where she was also caught in traffic — was quickly corrected with a Class 1 win at Doncaster in November on the softer surface she clearly prefers. Then came back-to-back top-level wins at Haydock in May and July 2025. She had turned a promising horse into a serious one.

Her regular partnership with jockey Daniel Tudhope has been a key part of the story. In six races together they have won three times — exactly 1 in 2 — which is a remarkable return at this level. O'Meara's yard, based at Upper Helmsley in North Yorkshire, has been in exceptional form this season with 102 winners sent out, and Estrange looks like their flagship in the making.

She hasn't raced for around five months now, which will naturally bring questions about whether she returns to the same form. But everything O'Meara has said points to a horse being carefully managed towards the biggest occasions — the Yorkshire Oaks, the Lancashire Oaks, races that define a career. The team have been patient with her, picking the right ground and the right trips, and it has paid off handsomely. The expectation is that the best is still to come.