Mount Atlas

The level it competes at is worth understanding. Most of Mount Atlas's races — seven of the 17 — have come in Class 2 company, which means some of the better races in Britain just below the very top tier. Winning two of those seven, roughly one in every three and a half, is a genuinely solid record at that grade. Lesser horses get found out when the quality improves; this one keeps showing up.

Ascot is where Mount Atlas has made its name. Two wins from three races at the famous Berkshire track is a remarkable record — that is a win rate of 67%, or two in every three visits. It won there in July 2024 and again in July 2025, both Class 2 races, which suggests it handles the big occasion rather than wilting under it. Not every horse takes to Ascot; the track is uniquely demanding, and horses that win there repeatedly are worth paying attention to.

Fast, dry ground brings out the best in this horse, too. On those conditions it has won two of four races, a 50% win rate that stands well above its overall average. When you combine that preference with its love of Ascot — where summer ground tends to be quick — the pattern of those two summer wins makes perfect sense.

The one puzzle in the file is the partnership with Oisin Murphy, one of the best jockeys in the country. Together they have raced five times without a win. That is a curious blank spot for a horse otherwise in such fine form, and it is the sort of detail that makes you wonder whether this week's York winner was ridden by someone else entirely. Trained by Andrew Balding at Kingsclere — a yard that has sent out 202 winners already this season, which is a remarkable output — Mount Atlas looks like a horse that knows exactly what it is doing at the moment.