Saint Lawrence

That win came in June 2023, and it remains the one time Saint Lawrence has crossed the line first. In the 37 months since, he hasn't won again — his last six results read 5th, 12th, 2nd, 9th, 10th, 7th — a maddening mix of near-misses and distant finishes that will be familiar to anyone who has followed him. He raced just yesterday, which means he's very much still active and still giving people reasons to watch.

What keeps the interest alive is the quality of company he's been keeping. His trainer Kevin Ryan, whose yard in the North Yorkshire village of Hambleton has sent out 45 winners this season alone, has pitched Saint Lawrence at some serious races. Jockey Hollie Doyle, who has ridden him in 9 of his 26 races and was aboard for that Ascot win, suggested after a run in France that if the pace had been stronger he might have won at Group 1 level — the absolute highest tier of horse racing anywhere in the world. That's a significant thing to say about a horse who won a handicap at Ascot.

The trainer at the time of that win, Archie Watson, was refreshingly honest about it afterwards — he'd had three horses in the race, let Doyle pick her ride, and admitted he'd have only himself to blame if she'd chosen wrong. She chose right. The win at Ascot on fast, dry ground in midsummer was Saint Lawrence at his best: a big occasion, a proper track, and a career-defining moment that, so far, he hasn't managed to repeat. Whether he has one more like it in him is the question that keeps people watching.