Peaky Boy

Those two Cheltenham wins in January and April 2024 were both in top-level Class 2 races, which means Peaky Boy was not picking off soft targets. He was beating decent horses in proper company, and doing it on what his trainer describes as better ground — fast, dry conditions that seem to suit him. Jonjo and A.J. O'Neill, who have sent out 51 winners already this season from their Cheltenham-based yard, know the course as well as anyone in the sport, and it shows.

The last six runs tell a more complicated story: a win, then a tenth, a twelfth, two thirds, and a sixth — read in reverse, that is a horse who showed up, went quiet, and has been working his way back. The trainer has been candid about why: a physical issue in spring and a setback in the autumn disrupted what might have been a productive season. That kind of honesty is actually encouraging — it explains the dip without hiding it.

At eight years old, Peaky Boy is not young, but he is not done either. The plan when he returns is three-mile races — slightly longer distances than he has typically tackled — and the team believe there is more to come. His overall win rate of 27% (roughly 1 in every 4 races) is solid for a horse operating at this level, and his Cheltenham record suggests the right track and the right conditions could unlock something. The next time he turns up there on a dry spring day, it would be unwise to look past him.