Hot And Cold

The most striking thing about Hot And Cold's recent form is its sheer dominance. In its last six races, it has won four of them — races at Southwell just this week, and before that victories stretching back through the autumn. The only blips in that run were a fifth-place finish and a second, which for a horse of this caliber looks almost like an outlier. This is a horse in the form of its life right now, and that matters hugely when you're trying to work out what it might do next.

Ground matters enormously in racing, and Hot And Cold has given us a clear lesson about itself: it absolutely thrives on normal, standard conditions. On normal ground, it has won three of its four races there — a 75% win rate that is simply dominant. This is useful information for anyone following the horse, because it tells you exactly when Hot And Cold is at its best.

Sir Mark Prescott, the trainer based at Newmarket, has a yard firing on all cylinders this season with 47 winners already, and Hot And Cold is one of her genuine jewels in the crown. For now, the horse is competing at Class 5 level, where it has one win from three races, but with a win rate of 50% across all races, the question hanging over it is not whether it can win, but where it might go next. A horse that wins half its races will run out of worthy opponents quickly if it keeps improving.