Partisan Hero

Start with Epsom. He has won 2 of his 3 races there, including a top-level Class 2 race on 6 June 2025 — one of the most prestigious race categories in Britain. Epsom is a notoriously tricky track, with a steep downhill camber and a sharp left-hand bend that catches plenty of horses out. The fact that Partisan Hero has made it his own in just three visits suggests it genuinely suits the way he travels and finishes. Course specialists are real, and he looks like one.

David Loughnane's yard at Stoke Heath in Shropshire has been in excellent form, sending out 39 winners already this season — so this is a horse coming out of a confident, well-run operation. Loughnane bought him out of Dermot Weld's yard for 72,000 guineas when the horse was rated just 68 — an eyebrow-raising price — but the trainer clearly saw something others didn't. "I like him a lot and think he'll be a lovely horse," Loughnane said early on, and the record is starting to back that up.

His preferred jockey is Rossa Ryan, who has won 2 of their 5 races together — a 40% win rate, which is exceptional by any measure. But it was Rab Havlin in the saddle at York on 23 May 2026, when Partisan Hero won his most recent race. Havlin's post-race comments painted a picture of a horse who enjoys being out in front and running his own race: "He enjoyed being on his own... he won well." That kind of relaxed, front-running style tends to play perfectly on tracks that reward confidence and pace, which may explain a lot about why Epsom suits him so much.

His recent form reads 3-3-1-7-1-6, with two wins tucked inside the last six outings. He clearly has off days — that seventh-place finish sits there as a reminder he isn't infallible — but the good days are very good. He ran just yesterday, so the yard will be watching closely, but Partisan Hero looks like a horse who rewards patience from those following him.