Il Ridoto

The overall numbers are modest: 3 wins from 29 races, which works out at roughly 1 in every 10. But context is everything. Il Ridoto has spent almost his entire career competing at Class 1 and Class 2 level — the very top end of the sport — where 2 of those wins have come in some of the most competitive races in Britain. Winning twice at Cheltenham from 19 visits is genuinely impressive, not because the conversion rate is high, but because most horses never win there once. The place has a way of exposing horses that don't truly belong. Il Ridoto clearly does.

Both of his Cheltenham wins came in the Paddy Power Gold Cup, one of the track's marquee races, in November 2023 and November 2024. Paul Nicholls, who trains him from his well-resourced yard in Ditcheat, Somerset — a yard that has already sent out 92 winners this season — noted after the most recent victory that a run at Chepstow a few weeks earlier had sharpened him up nicely, and that adding cheekpieces had helped focus his mind in the race itself. The horse had been slightly frustrating at times, ducking left and underperforming, and the equipment change seemed to unlock him. His form figures in that particular race now read 4-3-1, meaning he has finished fourth, third, and first across his three attempts — a quietly impressive trajectory.

The regular partnership with jockey Harry Cobden has produced 2 wins from 16 races together, a win rate of around 1 in 8, which is solid at this level. Nicholls has been clear-eyed about what Il Ridoto is: not a Grade One horse chasing glory against the very elite, but a high-class specialist who thrives on a particular track, in a particular race, when conditions suit. That self-knowledge — from horse and trainer alike — is its own kind of achievement. He has not won in his last six races and last tasted victory 17 months ago, so the next chapter is still being written. But at Cheltenham in November, Il Ridoto has already shown twice that he knows exactly where he belongs.