Kikijo

What's happened since is genuinely impressive for a 6-year-old still figuring things out. Three wins from the last six races, including back-to-back victories at two of jump racing's most prestigious venues — Cheltenham in November and Sandown in December, both Class 2 races, which means both sit among the better contests in Britain. Winning at Cheltenham alone is something plenty of horses never manage. Winning there and then following up at Sandown a few weeks later marks Kikijo out as a horse going places. Across the whole career — 8 races, 3 wins, 4 places — only once has the horse finished out of the top four, which speaks to a horse that is remarkably consistent even when it doesn't win.

There's one condition Kikijo particularly loves: wet ground. On soft or muddy going, the record reads 3 wins from 4 races, a 75% win rate. That is a horse that doesn't just handle the mud — it actively thrives in it. Dry, fast ground is a different story, and it's worth knowing that before getting too carried away. The one slight puzzle is that at Class 3 level — one rung below those Cheltenham and Sandown victories — Kikijo has won none of its three attempts. Sometimes horses perform better when the race quality rises and the pace becomes more honest. That may be what's happening here.

The team at Bilbrook, Somerset has had a productive season — 37 winners sent out by Philip Hobbs and Johnson White — and syndicate manager Richard Johnson, a former champion jockey, was candid after Cheltenham that he'd originally bought Kikijo to be a chaser rather than a hurdler, and that events had simply taken a different path. The plan from here appears to be exploring fences more seriously. Whether that means stepping up in trip or taking on tougher company, Kikijo has quietly assembled the kind of form that makes whatever comes next worth watching.