Hatos

Trainer Joe Tizzard, whose yard at Milborne Port has sent out 58 winners already this season, has always believed soft and heavy ground is the key that unlocks this horse. After Hatos' first career win at Chepstow back in January 2022, Tizzard noted that he travelled so easily on the soft ground, grinding it out when the race got tough — the kind of attitude that sticks in a trainer's memory. That win was followed by a frustrating setback when a small puncture wound kept Hatos off for the rest of that season. A trip to Hexham in April produced nothing, with the horse apparently unsettled by the unusual layout of that particular course.

His most recent win came at Wincanton in February 2024, now 28 months ago, and he hasn't reached the winner's enclosure in his last six races. His recent form reads a pair of thirds, a second, and a fifth — consistent enough to suggest he's not disgracing himself, but not quite getting the job done. Most of that racing has come at Class 4 level, the solid middle tier of British racing, where he's won 2 from 12 (about 1 in every 6 races at that level). His regular partner Brendan Powell has yet to get him home first across 8 rides together, though the ground hasn't always been in their favour.

Hatos raced just yesterday, so there's clearly still plenty of enthusiasm from the team to keep him busy. If Joe Tizzard can find him a race on genuinely heavy ground — ideally somewhere between a mile-and-a-half and two miles — this is a horse who has already shown he can produce something special. The waiting, it seems, is entirely weather-dependent.