Paborus

The five-year-old is currently on a hot streak, winning 4 of its last 6 races, with the most recent coming at Newcastle just this week. Before that, a Class 2 win at Southwell in October 2024 showed this is not a horse picking off easy opportunities — Class 2 means one of the better races in British racing, and Paborus handled it. The only blip in recent form is a seventh-place finish sandwiched between victories, which barely registers given what surrounds it.

Callum Rodriguez has been the regular partner in the saddle, and the pair have developed a rapport that shows in the numbers: together they have won 4 of their 6 races, which works out at roughly 2 in every 3 times they run together. That is an unusually productive partnership. A jockey who wins two-thirds of his rides on a horse is not just along for the journey — something is clearly clicking between horse and rider.

Behind the scenes, the operation is run by Edward Bethell out of Middleham in North Yorkshire, a training base with a long history of producing tough, consistent racehorses. Bethell's yard has sent out 61 winners already this season, which speaks to an outfit operating with real momentum. Paborus looks like one of its flag-bearers right now.

What makes this horse genuinely interesting is the combination of quality and reliability. Eight races in, and Paborus has barely put a foot wrong. Most horses take time to hit their stride, cycle through a few disappointing runs, and slowly piece together a career. Paborus has essentially been outstanding from the start, with a first win arriving at Redcar in May 2024 and the momentum barely letting up since. With a win recorded as recently as this week, there is every reason to think the story is still being written.