Mt Fugi Park

The O'Neill yard — father and son Jonjo and A.J., based in Cheltenham — has had a productive season, sending out 51 winners, and Mt Fugi Park has been one of their more puzzling projects. By their own admission, he was a decent enough hurdler who they expected to improve when switched to fences. It didn't happen quickly. He had a wind operation going into this season to help him breathe more efficiently at full stretch, and on his comeback he ran below expectations. The trainer's assessment was honest: he's a thorough stayer, there's plenty of racing left in him, but something just hadn't clicked. Then it did. He won at Carlisle, and A.J. O'Neill was candid enough afterwards to admit he wasn't entirely sure why — the cheekpieces helped, the horse had been working well at home, but ultimately Mt Fugi Park had simply decided to put it all together on the day.

The most striking number in his record is the one against Class 3 races: zero wins from seven attempts. That's the level where the competition steps up meaningfully, and he hasn't been able to crack it. Yet on normal ground — not too wet, not too firm — he has won 2 of his 3 races, a 67% record that suggests conditions matter enormously to him. His most recent win came at Market Rasen just this week, which is the kind of form that makes the next entry very interesting indeed.

Jonjo O'Neill Jr rides him in most of his races — 3 wins from 10 together, winning 3 in every 10 — and has spoken about not pushing him too hard too soon, while quietly suggesting there's a better horse in there when the right race comes along. For a horse that has taken a long time to find his feet over fences, Mt Fugi Park looks like he might finally be arriving at exactly the right moment.