Military Academy

The two standout moments came in the summer and autumn of 2024. Military Academy broke through for a first career win at Hamilton Park in August of that year, landing a Class 2 race, and then stepped up again just over two months later to win a Class 1 at Kempton Park in November. Back-to-back wins at the top end of the sport is not something every horse manages, and it suggested a horse hitting its best form at exactly the right time.

Since then, the picture has been more complicated. Military Academy has not won in its last 6 races, with recent form reading 9, a pull-up, 5, 5, 12, and 3 — a mixed bag that includes a couple of solid placings but no victory. The last win came at Kempton in November 2024, which is now 20 months ago. That gap is worth noting: horses can go through flat patches, and the current run of results suggests this one is still searching for the form that produced those two big wins.

The challenge of Class 1 racing shows up clearly in the numbers. In 10 races at that level, Military Academy has won just once — 1 from 10, or 10% — which is a reminder of how thin the margins are at the top. Turning up is one thing; winning consistently at that standard is another matter entirely.

The horse is trained by Jane Chapple-Hyam, whose yard at Dalham in Suffolk has sent out 24 winners this season — a productive operation by any measure. Military Academy raced just yesterday, so there is clearly plenty of fuel left in the tank, and a trainer with that kind of season behind her will know what it takes to get a horse back to its best. Whether another big-race win is around the corner remains to be seen, but this is a horse with a proven ability to rise to a big occasion — it has done it before.