No But I Will

Julian Smith trains the horse from his yard in Tirley, Gloucestershire, and back in November 2023 he was refreshingly candid about what he had on his hands. The horse had been a "big baby" who struggled physically as a youngster, and Smith identified him clearly as a three-mile-plus chaser who would come into his own on soft or muddy ground. That self-knowledge has paid off. On wet ground, No But I Will has won 2 from 6 races — a 33% win rate, or roughly 1 in every 3 — which is almost double his overall record and suggests the mud genuinely brings out the best in him.

The bulk of his career has been spent at Class 4 level, one step below the mid-tier, and that is where he has done his best work: 3 wins from 15 races at that grade, a 20% rate, meaning he wins about 1 in every 5. His first win came at Bangor-on-Dee in April 2023, and his most recent was at Fakenham in December 2025, about five months ago. His last six runs read 3-6-4-1-3-1 — two wins sandwiched between modest efforts — which is the profile of a horse that finds its level and occasionally punches above it.

One curious footnote is the record with regular jockey Liam Harrison. Despite seven races together, the pair have yet to win, which is a streak that will not go unnoticed in the yard. It does not mean the partnership is wrong, but it is the kind of stat that lingers. Smith's team has sent out just one winner this season, so No But I Will carrying the flag at an active stage of the campaign matters. Watch for him when the ground rides soft and the trip is a long one — that is when the name starts to feel like a promise rather than a punchline.