Isaac Newton

The first win came at Goodwood in August 2025, over seven furlongs, in what was one of the top races in Britain at that level. That alone marked Isaac Newton out as a horse worth watching. But two subsequent outings in France yielded only a fourth and a fifth, and for a moment the trajectory looked uncertain. O'Brien, however, was not worried. Speaking earlier this year, he was clear that those results did not tell the full story, and that he expected the horse to improve considerably — particularly over longer distances. He sees Isaac Newton as a mile-and-a-quarter to mile-and-a-half horse, which suggests a bigger, stronger frame is still catching up with the talent inside it.

The most recent win came at Navan in June, and since then his last six runs read 1-4-5-1-6-3 from most recent back — a mixed picture, but one with peaks worth noting. The Navan victory came just six weeks ago, meaning he is in current form and, with a race just yesterday, clearly being kept busy. That level of activity from the O'Brien yard — which has sent out 125 winners this season alone, a figure that speaks to one of the most powerful training operations in the sport — suggests Isaac Newton is a horse they are actively placing and believing in rather than one filling a gap in the calendar.

O'Brien floated the possibility of Royal Ascot, which is about as high-profile a stage as the sport offers. For a horse still finding his feet over middle distances, that kind of ambition from his trainer is the most telling fact of all. Win rates and finishing positions only say so much. Sometimes the most interesting data point is what the person who sees the horse every morning thinks is coming next.