Ice Max

The top of the CV reads like a horse operating at the highest level. Ice Max has won two Class 1 races — the very best category of race in Britain — including one at Goodwood in August 2024 and another at Nottingham in October 2025, with a Class 2 victory at York sandwiched in between. Goodwood and York are two of the most prestigious tracks in the country; winning at both signals a horse that turns up for the big occasions rather than wilting under pressure. After the Nottingham win, jockey Shane Gray was effusive on television, calling Ice Max "definitely a Group horse" and noting how much he had matured. That kind of public praise from a rider is not throwaway — jockeys choose their words carefully.

The trainer Karl Burke, whose yard in North Yorkshire has sent out 145 winners this season alone, described Ice Max as a free-going type who can be tricky to settle — in other words, a horse with natural energy and enthusiasm that does not always play nicely with the race plan. But the key insight from the Nottingham win is that once Ice Max found his rhythm, that same energy became his weapon. Burke's assistant James Cowley put it neatly: this horse likes a flat-out gallop on ground with a bit of cut in it — wet, slightly soft underfoot, where the pace stays honest and stamina is tested. In those conditions, his record is extraordinary: 2 wins from just 3 races, a 67% win rate.

The partnership with jockey Clifford Lee is worth noting too. Together they have won 5 of their 13 races — almost 1 in every 3 — which is a level of consistency that suggests genuine understanding between horse and rider. Ice Max raced just yesterday and remains in active training, with Burke suggesting a mile on soft ground as the starting point for the new campaign. If the autumn rain arrives on schedule, this is a horse worth watching very closely.