In Excelsis Deo

And results have dried up. In Excelsis Deo has not won in six races since that Cheltenham success, and the recent form figures — finishes of 13th, a couple of non-completions, 5th, 11th, and 11th — make for uncomfortable reading. The overall record sits at 2 wins and 6 places from 16 races, which works out at roughly 1 win in every 8 outings. That is modest on paper, but context matters: this is a horse that competes mainly at the top level, and at Class 1 races specifically, the record sharpens considerably — 1 win from 4 races, which is 1 in every 4. At that level, a 25% win rate is genuinely impressive.

The journey started at Hereford in December 2022, a first career win that presumably flagged up some potential. But it was Cheltenham, sixteen months later, that confirmed it. The problem now is that the Cheltenham win was two years ago, the horse is returning from a four-month break, and the immediate form before that break was poor. Jonathan Burke, who has ridden In Excelsis Deo in 8 of its 16 races and shared that Cheltenham win, has a 1 from 8 record together — modest, but that one win is the one that counts most.

Whether the break has done some good is the question everyone around the yard will be hoping to answer soon. Horses returning from time off can go either way, but In Excelsis Deo has already shown it can perform on the biggest stage once. The task now is to find that version of the horse again.