Lazy Griff

He is trained by Charlie Johnston at Middleham Moor in North Yorkshire, one of the busiest yards in the country right now — 131 winners this season alone. Johnston clearly thinks highly of this horse. After a run at Chester he publicly backed Lazy Griff to win the St Leger, one of the most prestigious races in the British calendar. That confidence was tested when the horse needed knee surgery in September and missed months of racing, but he returned to work in January and has been building back steadily since. Johnston is not a trainer who overpromises.

What makes Lazy Griff genuinely fascinating is the way he performs when conditions are against him. At Epsom, Johnston admitted he was not sure the famously twisting, undulating track would suit such a big, heavy-topped horse — and said the soft ground was practically a condition of running. The horse finished well enough to leave his trainer pleasantly surprised. At the Curragh, Johnston watched from the stands thinking it was going wrong, only to see Lazy Griff dig deep and produce something special. "An unbelievably tough horse" was the verdict. That is not a throwaway compliment from a man running 131 winners a season.

He races again imminently — just one day after his latest win at Sandown Park on 3 July 2026, where he showed his class on a fast surface. His three attempts at the very top level, Class 1 races, have not yet produced a win, but given Johnston's eye on Doncaster in September and a horse that keeps defying expectations, that blank may not last long.