Nikovo

The ground matters too. On normal conditions, Nikovo has won 5 of its 19 races — just over 1 in 4 — which tells you this is a horse that performs best when the track is neither waterlogged nor baked hard. When conditions suit and the venue is right, it becomes a different proposition altogether.

Nikovo hasn't won in its last 6 races, but the recent form reads 3-3-4-5-8-16, and crucially those two third-place finishes at the front of that sequence suggest it hasn't fallen off a cliff. Horses finishing third are competitive horses. The last win came at Newcastle in March 2026, about four months ago, so the drought isn't alarming — it's the kind of dry spell a fit, placed horse can snap at any moment, particularly over a trip and at a track it clearly knows well.

Trained by Michael Herrington out of Willoughton in Lincolnshire, Nikovo is part of a yard that has sent out 33 winners already this season — a team clearly in form. Jason Hart rides most often, and while their partnership of 1 win from 6 races together (roughly 1 in 6) doesn't scream chemistry, Hart is an experienced hand who knows the horse. Nikovo raced just yesterday, so it's very much in the mix right now. For anyone wanting a horse to follow, this is one that repays attention — especially the next time the entries show Newcastle on normal ground.