King Of Earth

William Haggas, one of Britain's leading trainers based at his Newmarket yard, has the horse in his care. The stable is in fine form this season with 170 winners to its name, so King Of Earth is in experienced hands. His breakthrough came at Wolverhampton on 1 June, and he followed up with a second career win at The Curragh on 28 June — two victories in the space of four weeks that showed real progress. Since then, however, things have stalled slightly. In his last four races, he has finished unplaced once, fourth, second, and second, suggesting the yard may still be finding the right level or conditions for him.

The pattern of his recent form — second, second, fourth, first, second, tenth — indicates a horse who runs well more often than not but has yet to find complete consistency. At three years old, King Of Earth has time on his side. Many horses improve significantly over their next ten or twenty races, and with a trainer of Haggas's calibre steering the ship, there is every reason to think better days lie ahead. For now, he remains a horse worth watching.