Heltenham

What makes Heltenham particularly interesting is where those wins have come. Three of its six victories have arrived in Class 2 races — among the better races you will see in Britain — and two of those came at Newbury, in March 2023 and March 2024, almost exactly a year apart. Winning the same track twice in top-level company is not luck; it suggests Heltenham has something about Newbury that suits it, whether that is the shape of the course, the way it bends, or simply a confidence built from knowing the place. Two wins from six races there (33%) tells you this is somewhere worth watching for.

The trainer is Dan Skelton, whose yard in Alcester, Warwickshire has been in sensational form — 187 winners already this season, which is the kind of output that marks out one of the most productive stables in the country. Heltenham is ridden most often by Harry Skelton, Dan's brother, and the pair have a strong record together: 4 wins from 18 races, which works out at just over 1 in every 4 — a 22% win rate that is better than Heltenham's overall figure, suggesting the combination brings out the best in the horse.

The most recent win came at Perth on 24 April 2025, another Class 2 success, and it shows Heltenham can still land a big one when everything clicks. That said, the horse has not won in its last six races, and the recent form — a fourth, a fifth, and a second scattered among some blank runs — paints a picture of a horse that is running respectably but not quite finding the front end. At nine, it is not getting any younger, but horses of this type can keep performing at a high level for years, and with the Skelton team in the kind of form they are in right now, it would be unwise to write Heltenham off just yet.