Jena d'Oudairies

The first win came at Taunton in April 2024, and that track has since become something of a happy hunting ground — two wins from just three races there, which is a remarkable hit rate for any horse at any course. Winning two out of three anywhere suggests more than luck; it suggests the horse genuinely suits the track. More recently, Jena d'Oudairies won at Stratford-on-Avon just this week, making her current form — two wins from her last six races — as good as it's been at any point in her career.

Most of her racing has come in Class 4 company, which is solid mid-level racing, and she has won one from six at that level. That might sound modest, but it's consistent with a horse that competes hard without always landing the prize. Freddie Gingell has ridden her more than anyone else, and together they've won two of seven races — roughly one in three and a half — which is a meaningful partnership at this level.

Paul Nicholls has spoken about how she ran a little green and inexperienced early in her career, making clumsy jumps even on days when she won. That kind of raw, unpolished running is common in younger horses still learning their trade. The fact that she has since gone on to race at Cheltenham — one of the most demanding tracks in the country — without embarrassing herself suggests the ability was always there, just waiting to be unlocked. She is a horse whose career seems to be on an upward curve right now, and with a win on the board just days ago, she arrives at whatever comes next in the form of her life.