Indian Run

Both came in the summer of 2023, and both came at major tracks. On 29 July that year, he won a Class 2 race at Ascot — one of the most prestigious venues in British racing — on his first ever career win. Then, less than a month later, he stepped up and won a Class 1 race at York. That is the top tier of British racing, and winning one at two years old is the kind of result that marks a horse out as genuinely talented. His then-trainer Eve Johnson Houghton was thrilled but measured, noting after Ascot that he had done "pretty much everything wrong before the race, but everything right in it" — the sign of a horse with raw ability that hadn't quite grown into itself yet. After York, she was already talking about the Dewhurst, one of the most important races for young horses in the calendar.

Since then, Indian Run has raced 13 more times without winning, and his last six results — finishing 6th, 3rd, 4th, 16th, 7th, and 8th — tell the story of a horse that has not rediscovered that form. His most recent win was 33 months ago. Camacho, who has sent out 46 winners this season and clearly knows how to get a horse to perform, has been working on him in the meantime — including a wind operation after a disappointing run at Windsor. She is frank that he is probably not quite at the very top level of sprint racing, but believes there is a good race in him at the right level and on the right ground. He needs fast, dry conditions to show his best.

His partnership with jockey Daniel Tudhope is worth watching. The two have raced together 5 times, winning 2 of them — that is 40%, or 2 from every 5 rides, which is a remarkable ratio and suggests the combination brings something out in the horse. With a wind tweak behind him and the right conditions ahead, Camacho is quietly confident Indian Run has unfinished business.