Milldam

Trained by Jamie Snowden at his Lambourn yard — a powerful operation that has sent out 82 winners already this season — Milldam has done his best work at distances between a mile and six furlongs and two miles, winning 4 of his 8 races in that range. That is a 50% win rate, which in racing terms is exceptional. His jockey Gavin Sheehan, who has partnered him in 18 of his 22 races and been aboard for all five wins, put it plainly after the most recent victory at Haydock Park in December 2024: two miles, a flat galloping track, and the ground needs to be genuinely heavy. Get those conditions right and Milldam becomes a different animal.

That Haydock win is worth dwelling on. Sheehan said afterwards that Milldam had been "gassy" — unsettled and difficult — at his previous run and had simply needed the race to get his head right. He also noted that Milldam was "brave going to the last and even braver coming away from it," which suggests a horse who had to dig deep rather than coast home. Snowden has since flagged a race called the Winter Million as the big target, with one run in between to get him ready. The plan is clear, and Milldam's ideal conditions are baked into it.

The complication is that he has not won in his last six races, with his most recent efforts reading second, fourth, fourth, a blank, fifth, and sixth. Sixteen months have now passed since that Haydock victory. Whether that reflects a horse who just hasn't found the conditions he craves, or one who is slightly past his peak, is the question his team will be hoping the winter weather answers. Snowden has said the ground needs to be heavier than it was at Haydock — which in a British December is saying something. But if the skies open and the mud comes, Milldam has form to suggest he'll be there when it matters.