Gibside

The highlight of Gibside's career came on 9 May 2025, when it won a Class 2 race at Chester — one of the top tier of races in Britain, and a significant step up from its usual surroundings. Chester is a notoriously tight, unusual track that suits particular kinds of horses, and winning there at that level suggests Gibside is more than just a reliable plodder. That win looks even more eye-catching when you know this horse typically competes a rung lower, winning 3 of its 20 races at Class 4 — roughly 1 in every 7.

One factor that clearly brings out the best in Gibside is wet or muddy ground. In four races on soft or heavy ground, it has won twice — a 50% win rate that dwarfs its overall record and tells you exactly what conditions the trainer will be hoping for when targeting a race. Many horses tolerate wet ground; Gibside seems to actively relish it.

There are also course records worth noting. At Ripon, where Gibside got off the mark back in July 2022, it has won 2 of just 4 visits — again, 1 in 2, which is the kind of ratio that makes a trainer's eyes light up whenever that track appears in the calendar. Jockey Duran Fentiman has partnered Gibside more than anyone, winning 3 of their 20 races together, or about 1 in every 7 rides.

The recent form — finishing 10th, 6th, 14th, 6th, 5th, 5th across its last six races — tells a more modest story, and Gibside has not won since October 2024 at Catterick Bridge, now seven months ago. But with Easterby's yard firing on all cylinders — 126 winners already this season — and a soft-ground race on the right track always a possibility, Gibside remains the kind of horse you'd never write off entirely.