Midnight Gun

What makes Midnight Gun's profile a little frustrating is the mismatch between his breeding and his results at the top level. Trainer Hamad Al Jehani, whose Newmarket yard has sent out 18 winners this season and clearly knows what they are doing, noted early in Midnight Gun's career that he is very well bred — by Kingman out of Sky Lantern, a pairing that suggests a horse built for quality. But in four races at Class 2 — the highest level he has competed at — he has drawn a complete blank, with zero wins from four attempts. That is not necessarily a disgrace; these are among the best races in Britain, and simply being competitive at that level speaks to some ability. But a horse with this bloodline was presumably expected to do more than place.

The partnership with jockey James Doyle is another puzzle worth raising. Doyle is a respected rider, but in five races together the pair have not yet managed a win. That is a small enough sample that it would be unfair to read too much into it, but it is a notable absence. Midnight Gun first broke his duck at Nottingham in May 2024, then followed up at Newmarket the following month — a confident sequence that suggested things were clicking. Since then, the wins have dried up entirely. Whether the upcoming return can spark a revival is the interesting question for anyone following this horse.