Khabib

The horse has a genuine aptitude for Southwell, where it has won twice in seven races — nearly three times better than its overall record. It also thrives over short distances, winning 2 of 7 races at sprint lengths (under five furlongs), suggesting that when the pace is quick and the distance brief, something clicks. Add normal ground conditions to that equation, and the picture becomes clearer still: Khabib has won 3 of 14 races on standard going, a 21% success rate. Strip away the soft, heavy, or fast-ground races where it has never won, and you have a horse with a genuine profile — short trips on firm, dry ground at tracks it knows.

Yet there is a significant caveat. Khabib has not tasted victory in 35 months. Its last six races tell a story of a horse struggling to recapture form, with finishes of third, fourth, seventh, ninth, eighth, and ninth. Just last week it ran ninth at a Class 4 level — the level at which it typically races, but where it has won only once in 24 attempts. Tom Eaves, its most frequent partner, has ridden it 10 times for a single win. At eight years old and winless since late 2023, Khabib may still have races left to win, but the days when it could rely on Southwell and sharp sprint work to deliver results now feel like a distant memory.