Frankendael

The Beverley connection is the most striking thread in its story. Two wins from just three races at that Yorkshire track amounts to a 67% win rate there, which is an extraordinary number in a sport where even the very best horses win less than half their races. For context, Frankendael wins roughly 1 in every 5 races overall — 4 from 21 — so the fact that it has won 2 of 3 at one specific venue tells you something real: there is a combination of the track's shape, the ground, or the trip that simply suits this horse unusually well. Its first career win came at Beverley in September 2022, and the place has been good to it ever since.

The distance record is similarly telling. Over a mile and one furlong to a mile and two furlongs, Frankendael has won 2 of just 4 races — a 50% win rate that puts it well above its overall average. That is the sweet spot. Too short and it probably isn't getting home; too long and the same applies. At Class 5, the level it most often competes at, it has won 2 of 6 races, or roughly 1 in 3 — again comfortably above its career average, which suggests it is placed sensibly by the yard.

Trained by E McNamara out of Rathkeale in County Limerick — a yard that has sent out 22 winners this season alone — Frankendael is most often ridden by Conor McNamara, who has partnered it to 1 win from 6 races together. The most recent win came at Listowel in September 2024, now 20 months ago, and the last six runs have brought a sixth, a seventeenth, a third, a seventh, and two others — respectable without being spectacular.

Frankendael raced just yesterday, so it is very much in active training. A horse that wins 1 in 5 overall but 2 in 3 at its favourite track is worth keeping an eye on when Beverley comes around again.