Lord Abama

The seven-year-old is trained by Michael Dods at Piercebridge in County Durham, and this season the yard has been in fine form, sending out 43 winners. Dods clearly knows what he has in Lord Abama — a horse with a specific set of preferences that, when matched up correctly, delivers. Chief among those is the ground. On fast, dry ground, Lord Abama wins roughly 1 in every 5 races (3 wins from 14). On other surfaces the record drops away sharply, which tells you a lot about how to read its chances on any given day.

Connor Beasley is the regular partner in the saddle, the pair having raced together 14 times. They've only won once from those 14 races together, which is a modest 7%, but the relationship is clearly an established one and Beasley will know this horse's quirks as well as anyone.

The overall numbers — 5 wins from 44 races, an 11% win rate, or roughly 1 in every 9 races — suggest a horse that competes most often at the lower end of the racing ladder, Class 5, where the fields are competitive and wins aren't easy to come by. The recent form reads 9-5-11-8-10-8, a run of six races without a win stretching back almost a year. But the last win — June 2025, at Thirsk — is a reminder that this horse hasn't forgotten how to do it. It just needs everything to line up: the right track, the right ground, and the right day. When those boxes are ticked, Lord Abama has shown it can deliver.