Opal Storm

The most striking number in the file is Carlisle: 2 wins from just 3 races there. That kind of record at a specific track is rare enough to mean something. Courses have their own quirks — the camber of a bend, the gradient of the home straight — and some horses simply take to a particular place. Carlisle opened Opal Storm's account back in September 2023, and the horse has clearly never forgotten the place.

Most of Opal Storm's racing has been at Class 5, which sits at the less glamorous end of the sport, but that's where the horse has done its best work: 3 wins from 19 races at that level, or roughly 1 in 6. The partnership with jockey Aiden Brookes tells a similar story — 3 wins from 29 races together, around 1 in 10. They've been in the plate for the majority of the career and have found the winner's enclosure together enough times to suggest a genuine understanding.

The last win came at Southwell in April 2026, three months ago, and recent form reads 8-12-5-1-9-7 going back from the most recent run yesterday — so there's a win in that sequence, sandwiched between some quiet efforts. Trainer Brian Rothwell operates out of Oswaldkirk in North Yorkshire, and his yard has had just one winner on the board this season, so this is a small, patient operation rather than a conveyor belt of talent. What they have in Opal Storm is a horse that knows its job, picks its moments, and if you see it heading to Carlisle on a warm, dry summer afternoon, it is worth paying attention.