Gunfighter

John Butler trains him out of Newmarket, and it is worth noting that Butler's yard has sent out 34 winners already this season — so this is not a stable short on confidence or ability. Gunfighter simply has not been able to tap into that form. Back in August 2023, before his first win, Butler spoke glowingly about the horse's early promise, describing him as well bought and pointing to encouraging work at home. That debut third at Newbury and a solid second run at Salisbury suggested something was there. He duly delivered, winning at Newcastle in September 2023 and again at Wolverhampton three months later.

The most interesting number in Gunfighter's record is this: on normal ground, he has won 2 of just 5 races — a 40% win rate that stands in sharp contrast to everything else about his profile. That is not a small sample you can dismiss; it is a genuine pattern. The problem is those conditions do not come around every week, and when they do, Gunfighter has to be in the right sort of form to take advantage. Most of his career has been spent at Class 4 level — the bread-and-butter tier of British racing — where he has won 2 from 14. That is about 1 in every 7 races at that level, which is respectable without being special.

At five, Gunfighter is not young, and a 30-month winning drought is a long time to wait. The raw materials Butler identified early on are presumably still there somewhere. Whether the right race on the right ground can bring them back to the surface is the question his team will be asking.