Flash Bardot

The most striking number in Flash Bardot's record is what happens on wet or muddy ground: 2 wins from just 4 races, a 50% win rate. That is extraordinary. When conditions suit, this horse is a completely different animal — winning half its races on soft ground is the kind of stat that makes a trainer sit up and wait for the right day. The challenge is that you can't order the weather, and Flash Bardot appears to have been doing much of its racing in less ideal conditions.

Trained by Henrietta C Knight at her yard in West Lockinge, Oxfordshire — an operation that has already sent out 15 winners this season — Flash Bardot tends to line up in Class 3 races, which sit just below the top level of British racing. That's a competitive environment, and winning 2 of 10 races at that level, a 20% rate, is perfectly respectable. The most regular partnership is with jockey Rose Dawes, who has ridden Flash Bardot 9 times and won twice together — winning roughly 1 in every 4 or 5 rides, a strong return by any measure.

The big question now is whether Flash Bardot can rediscover winning form. The career started promisingly, with a first win at Lingfield Park back in March 2023, and that Doncaster victory in April 2024 showed the horse can still deliver at its level. Having raced just yesterday, the yard will be watching the weather closely. A wet week and the right track could be all it takes for Flash Bardot to remind everyone what it's capable of.