Penfolds Grange

That single career win came at Wolverhampton on 16 November 2024, and it remains the only time Penfolds Grange has reached the top step. What makes that more striking is that the win came at what should be its most comfortable level — the lower end of the racing ladder — yet it has since run six times without adding to the tally. At the class of racing it typically competes at, it has gone 0 from 6, which means that lone Wolverhampton success looks increasingly like an exception rather than a sign of things to come. Nineteen months is a long time to go without repeating a victory, especially when you're still relatively young.

The horse does have a preference for distances around a mile to a mile and a quarter, and that's where all its best performances have come. Over those trips it has won 1 from 10 races — a 10% win rate — which, while modest, at least confirms there is a version of this horse capable of winning at those distances. The recent form reads 3-6-2-blank-4-5, which shows a second place tucked in there and a handful of other mid-field efforts. It isn't stopping, it isn't running badly every week — it just isn't winning.

Mark Pattinson trains the horse from his yard in Epsom, Surrey, and his team has sent out five winners this season, so there is form in the yard. Penfolds Grange raced just one day ago, which means it is in the thick of a busy campaign right now. Whether fresher legs or a change of circumstances can unlock that next victory remains to be seen. For now, it's a horse that knows its way around a racecourse, can find the frame often enough to keep the yard hoping — but is still searching, 19 months on, for proof that Wolverhampton wasn't a one-off.