Gentleman Joe

His best form comes when the conditions suit him. On normal ground — not too wet, not too firm — he has won 2 of just 5 races, a remarkable 40% conversion rate that tells you he is a completely different animal when the ground plays to his strengths. Similarly, stretch him out to between a mile and six furlongs and two miles, and he has won 2 from 6 at that trip. He is a horse who wants a proper test of stamina rather than a sprint, and when the ground and distance both line up, he becomes genuinely hard to beat.

Rachael Blackmore has ridden him in 7 of his races, winning once together — roughly 1 in every 7. That partnership has not set the world alight statistically, but the fact that one of jump racing's most celebrated jockeys keeps coming back to him says something about what the horse shows at home. He is trained by Matt Crawley at Newmarket in Suffolk, a yard that has sent out 4 winners already this season and clearly knows how to place a horse to its best advantage.

His career took its first significant turn at Clonmel in May 2023, and his most recent win came at Leopardstown on 10 July 2025 — a track with a big reputation, which means Gentleman Joe has shown he can perform when it matters. His last six runs read 4-9-6-2-4-1, so a poor mid-sequence run at ninth is sandwiched between some decent efforts, and that most recent win is only nine months old. He raced just nine days ago, which means he is fit, active, and still very much a horse his trainer believes in. At eight years old, he is in the prime years for a horse at this level — experienced enough to know his job, and still good enough to do it.