Gwennie May Boy

His career story is a good one. He announced himself in style at Bangor-on-Dee in October 2022, winning at 80-1 on debut — a price that suggested nobody expected much. What followed was anything but expected. A Class 2 win at Uttoxeter in March 2024 led directly to that Aintree success the following month, and his then-trainer Dan Skelton — one of the leading names in the sport — admitted afterwards that he was "astounded" by the improvement, having genuinely expected another horse to win that day. That kind of honest surprise from a top trainer is worth paying attention to.

Gwennie May Boy is now with Christian Williams at Ogmore-By-Sea in Glamorgan, a yard that has sent out 25 winners already this season — a busy, productive operation. Williams has spoken about the horse having serious options ahead, including top-level three-mile hurdle races and possibly jumping fences for the first time, which would open up a whole new set of opportunities. After a very good season with his previous yard, there's a sense this horse still has chapters left to write.

His conditions are worth knowing: on slightly soft ground he has won 4 of 8 races, a remarkable 50% success rate. He is a horse who comes alive when there's a bit of moisture in the ground. His recent form figures show some quieter runs, but those have come at the very top level against the best competition around — finishing seventh, sixth, and ninth in Class 1 company is a very different thing to running poorly in a lesser race. With jockey Charlie Todd having won 3 of 6 races together at a 50% rate, that partnership is worth watching whenever Gwennie May Boy lines up next.