Never Dark

Jardine's operation is clearly in good health right now, having sent out 57 winners this season alone, so Never Dark is operating within a busy, confident yard. The horse's most regular partner is jockey Jonny Peate, who has ridden it 19 times for 2 wins together — again, roughly 1 in every 9 rides. That kind of long-running partnership suggests trust, even if the results have been hard to come by of late.

The headline moment of this horse's career came on 30 September 2023, when it won a Class 2 race at Haydock Park — one of the better races in British racing. That is the ceiling, and it is a respectable one. Most of Never Dark's racing has come at Class 5 level, where it has won 2 from 18, but that Haydock win proves it can step up and deliver on a bigger stage when conditions are right.

And conditions matter enormously here. On wet or muddy ground, Never Dark is a different animal entirely — 3 wins from just 10 races, meaning it has won 30% of the time in those conditions. That is a remarkable number. Compare that to its overall record and you see a horse that genuinely transforms when the weather turns. Wolverhampton is also worth noting: 2 wins from just 5 races there makes it a genuine course specialist at that track.

The honest part of the picture is that Never Dark has not won in its last 6 races, and its most recent last win came at Hamilton Park back in September 2024 — now 21 months ago. Recent form of 6-7-8-3-9-4 shows it is still placing occasionally but the wins have dried up. Whether a wet day at Wolverhampton can turn the tide again is the question worth watching.