Mount Athos

The overall numbers tell a similar story. Across 18 races, Mount Athos has won 7 and placed in 10 more — that is a win rate of 39%, or roughly 2 in every 5 races he enters. In the context of horse racing, where even the best horses win far less often than they lose, that figure is exceptional. He is particularly at home when the ground is soft and the turf is heavy underfoot: on wet or muddy ground he has won 6 of his 8 races, a remarkable 75%. His trainer James Tate describes him as "a specialist who loves 7 furlongs round a bend" — and the record backs that up completely.

His partnership with jockey James Doyle is one of those rare combinations where the numbers become almost absurd: six races together, six wins. A perfect record. Doyle has spoken about how he could see exactly what the rival jockey wanted at Kempton and simply took advantage, dictating the pace from the front — the kind of tactical clarity that only comes when horse and rider know each other well. Tate's yard has been in excellent form this season, sending out 50 winners, and Mount Athos is one of the reasons why.

There is one small question mark. His recent form reads 6-1-7-12-2-1 — two wins, but also two disappointing finishes in the middle of that sequence. His last run, just one day ago, resulted in a sixth-place finish, and before that he finished seventh and twelfth. Tate has acknowledged that his previous run at Haydock looked like he was not moving freely, and that the team simply looked after him rather than push him. He appears to have come out of it well. The plan, according to Tate, is a prep race in Britain in the autumn before targeting a Listed race at Deauville in November — a race he has won before. He knows the way there.