Mermaids Cave

The partnership with jockey Mr Alex Chadwick is the standout story here. In nine races together, they have won four times — that is almost 1 in every 2 rides ending in the winner's enclosure, a win rate of 44%. For context, most jockey-and-horse combinations in racing hover well below that. When these two line up together, the smart money pays attention.

James Owen's yard at Newmarket has been in exceptional form, sending out 205 winners this season alone. That kind of volume tells you this is not a quiet backwater operation — it is a stable that knows how to get horses to the track ready to run. Mermaids Cave benefits from being part of a setup that clearly knows what it is doing.

Where Mermaids Cave really comes alive is on slightly wet, soft ground — the kind of conditions that sort out horses quickly. Two wins from just five races on that surface works out to 40%, which is a remarkable hit rate. Plenty of horses tolerate soft ground; fewer genuinely relish it. This one appears to be in that second group.

The recent form does give reason for pause. Mermaids Cave has not won in its last six races, and the last two results — finishing eighth and ninth — suggest the seven-year-old may be going through a flat spell rather than building toward something. The last win came at Huntingdon in November 2025, now five months ago. That is not a crisis, but it is the kind of run that asks questions. The horse raced just three days ago, so it is clearly fit and active — and if the ground softens up and Mr Chadwick is in the saddle, there is every reason to think this horse can find its way back to the winner's circle soon enough.