Garde des Champs

What Perth means to Garde des Champs is worth noting. He has won both his career races at this Scottish track — two wins from twenty-one attempts there, a rate of roughly 1 in 10 — and his most recent victory came at Perth on 13 July 2025, nearly fourteen months ago. That win matters because it is the only recent reminder that he can still deliver, even if the gap between then and now has stretched long. He races best on normal ground, winning 2 from 25 races (8%) when the track is neither too soft nor too firm, and he finds his level in Class 4 company, where he has won 2 of his last 20 races (10%). These are tiny margins, but they are the margins on which honest, modest horses survive.

Trained by Lucinda Russell and Michael Scudamore from their yard near Perth, Garde des Champs runs often for jockey Derek Fox, though that partnership has yet to find a win together — 0 wins from 10 races. The yard itself is productive, having sent out forty-nine winners this season, which speaks to the strength of the operation; Garde des Champs simply sits at the lower end of what a busy, capable racing stable manages. At ten years old and still active, he is the kind of horse that fills race cards and provides steady employment. He may not win often, but he shows up, tries, and occasionally reminds Perth of what he can do.