Penzance

Trained by Mark Loughnane out of Rock Farm in Worcestershire — a yard that has already sent out 25 winners this season — Penzance is a six-year-old who has found its level and, more importantly, found the conditions it thrives in. Normal ground suits it best: all 4 career wins have come on it, across 20 races in those conditions (a 20% win rate, or 1 in every 5). It also has a clear preference for a mile and three to a mile and four furlongs, winning 4 of its 22 races at those trips. That combination of track, trip, and ground is the kind of formula a good trainer learns to trust.

The partnership with jockey Alistair Rawlinson is central to the story. Together they have won 4 races from 18 — a 22% win rate, or nearly 1 in every 4 times they team up — which tells you something real about how well horse and rider understand each other. That number is meaningfully better than Penzance's overall record, and it is not a coincidence.

The high point came on New Year's Day 2024, when Penzance won a Class 2 race at Newcastle — one of the better-quality races in Britain — which showed this is not a horse simply filling out cards at the bottom of the game. But recent form has been harder to read. The last win came at Chelmsford in March 2025, and in 6 races since, the best result has been a third. Still racing as recently as yesterday, Penzance remains active and competitive, sitting just outside the places in its last two outings. Whether it finds its way back to the winner's enclosure may well depend on whether it returns to Chelmsford — because the numbers there are hard to argue with.