New Image

The standout moment so far came at Ascot on 10 August 2024, when New Image won a Class 2 race at the Shergar Cup meeting. To put that in context: Class 2 races are among the better-quality races in Britain, and Ascot is about as prestigious an address as the sport offers. Winning there is not a fluke — it is a statement. New Image has raced six times at that level and won once, which translates to a 17% win rate (roughly 1 in every 6 races), but that single win came on the biggest stage available to him, which matters more than the raw number suggests.

The ground tells a clear story too. On normal conditions, New Image has won 2 from 4 races — a 50% win rate, which is exceptional. That is the kind of figure that makes a trainer sit up and pay close attention to the weather forecast before entering a horse.

After a winter break, O'Meara eased him back into action at Musselburgh just this week — a gentle reintroduction to knock off the rust rather than a serious tilt at a prize. The trainer has been refreshingly direct about what comes next: the Victoria Cup at Ascot is on the radar as a second-start target, with the stiff seven furlongs at the track or a sharp mile at York among the options being considered. Both suit a horse who clearly goes well when the track demands something real of him.

New Image has not won since that Ascot success 21 months ago, and that gap is the one question hanging over him. But he is trained by a yard that has sent out 102 winners already this season — a high-volume, high-performance operation — he loves the ground conditions that summer tends to bring, and his the yard are clearly pointing him at exactly the races that suited him before. The pieces are in place.