Knicks

Both victories came in a concentrated burst at the same track. Knicks won its first race ever at Nottingham on 26 September 2023, then returned to the same course later that same day to land a Class 2 race—one of the top-level competitions in Britain. That's a remarkable double, and it's the kind of day that can change a horse's career trajectory. But something stalled after that. It's now nearly two years since the second win, which came at Chester in May 2024, and the recent form is unforgiving: four runs without a place, followed by two fourth-place finishes in the last six outings. The horse is active and racing regularly, but it's clearly struggling to find the winning post.

The partnership with regular jockey Joanna Mason hasn't yielded much—one win from 11 races together, a 9% win rate—and the numbers at Class 5, where Knicks most often competes, are particularly stark: zero wins from 12 attempts. This is a horse that performed best at a higher level, which raises an obvious question: can it ever get back to the form that produced that brilliant day at Nottingham nearly three years ago? For now, it remains a work in progress for the Easterby yard in Yorkshire, competitive enough to keep racing but not quite consistent enough to deliver what the yard are looking for.