Fifth Column

The 2025 season has been the making of Fifth Column. Starting with a first career win at Kempton Park in April, the horse then went on to win at Sandown later that month, followed by a Class 2 at Newmarket's July course in midsummer, and then a Class 2 at York in August — one of the most prestigious tracks in the country. Four wins across four different venues in a single season is a serious achievement, and the quality of the opposition at those tracks only adds to it. At the Class 2 level specifically, Fifth Column has won 3 from 7 races, a 43% win rate. That means almost every other time it lines up in one of these top-tier events, it wins. That is a remarkable hit rate.

The recent form figures tell a slightly mixed story — four of the last six runs show double-digit finishing positions — but those results sit either side of the York win and the Newmarket victory, which suggests this horse can look ordinary one day and then deliver something excellent the next. It is the kind of horse that keeps you watching rather than one you can easily write off.

In the saddle, William Buick has been the regular partner, riding Fifth Column in 10 of its 15 races and winning 2 of them — a 20% win rate together. Behind the scenes, the Gosden operation at Newmarket — John and Thady Gosden's yard — is one of the most powerful in the country, having sent out 140 winners this season alone. When a horse comes out of that stable having won three Class 2 races before its fourth birthday, it is fair to say the team believes in what they have. Fifth Column is four years old, actively racing, and has already shown it can win at a level most horses never reach.