Hawk Mountain

That winning run began at The Curragh in Ireland in August 2025, and the track has become something of a home from home for him: two wins from three races there, which is the kind of record that makes trainers smile when the entries come around. But the performance that really put him on the map came two months later at Doncaster, where he won the Futurity Trophy — one of the most prestigious races in Britain for horses his age. Winning a top-level race as a two-year-old places him in very select company, and trainer Aidan O'Brien described him afterwards as a Classic horse: big, powerful, athletic, and crucially, uncomplicated. In racing, a horse that is easy to train is almost as valuable as a horse that is easy to win with.

The jockey who rode him at The Curragh, Ronan Whelan, gave a vivid account of what it felt like from the saddle. The moment he asked Hawk Mountain to quicken, the horse simply lit up — and when he crossed the line still pricking his ears, that is a jockey's way of saying the horse had barely broken sweat. O'Brien's stable, based in Cashel in County Tipperary, has sent out 144 winners this season alone, so the competition for attention is fierce, but Hawk Mountain appears to be near the top of the pecking order.

The plan now is an ambitious one. O'Brien has spoken about pointing him towards the Epsom Derby or the French Derby — the two biggest races in Europe for three-year-olds — with a trial race likely beforehand. He began his career as a miler but is expected to stay comfortably over longer distances, and both horse and team seem relaxed about stepping up in trip. After five months off, the big question is simply whether the spark is still there. Given what he has shown so far, most people in the sport would be surprised if it wasn't.