The recent form makes for difficult reading: finishing 11th, 9th, 13th, 9th, 8th, and 6th in its last six runs, Imperial Fighter has not been close to the front end of a race in some time. It tends to run over a mile and a quarter or thereabouts, a trip where it has won 1 of its 24 races at that distance — and its record in the highest-grade races is a blank, with nothing to show from seven attempts at that level. For a horse competing regularly against the best, that is a tough ask.
Trained by Patrick J McKenna out of Dugannon in County Tyrone, the yard has sent out four winners this season, so it is not as though the horses aren't performing — Imperial Fighter just hasn't been one of them. William Carver, who rides it most often, has won 1 of their 9 races together, which works out at roughly 1 in every 9 — a decent enough partnership by numbers, but one that has not fired lately. The horse raced just yesterday, which tells you the team keeps rolling it out in hope. Sometimes with a horse like this, that persistence is what it takes. Other times, the Wolverhampton win in January 2025 just quietly becomes the one moment it all came together.
| Course | Races | Results | Last run | Win rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dundalk Galloping |
13 | 1 second, 12 other | 26 May | 0% |
| Wolverhampton Galloping |
3 | 1 win, 2 other | 18 Jan | 33.3% |
| Newmarket Galloping |
3 | 1 second, 2 other | 18 May | 0% |
| Southwell Galloping |
2 | 2 other | 14 Dec | 0% |
| Lingfield Park Sharp |
2 | 2 other | 3 Jan | 0% |
| Ascot Galloping |
2 | 2 other | 4 Oct | 0% |
| Doncaster Galloping |
2 | 2 other | 1 Apr | 0% |
| Down Royal Galloping |
1 | 1 other | 17 Mar | 0% |
| Kempton Park Galloping |
1 | 1 other | 29 Jan | 0% |
| York Galloping |
1 | 1 other | 13 Jul | 0% |
| Sandown Park Galloping |
1 | 1 other | 15 Jun | 0% |
| Ayr Galloping |
1 | 1 other | 23 Sep | 0% |
| Leopardstown Galloping |
1 | 1 other | 9 Apr | 0% |
| Epsom Downs Undulating |
1 | 1 other | 3 Jun | 0% |
| The Curragh Galloping |
1 | 1 third | 21 May | 0% |
| Goodwood Undulating |
1 | 1 other | 1 Aug | 0% |
| Newcastle Galloping |
1 | 1 third | 15 Apr | 0% |