Scandinavia

What makes those numbers genuinely impressive is the level at which they have been achieved. Three of his five wins have come in the very top tier of British racing — Class 1 races, the biggest and most prestigious events on the calendar — and he has won 3 of the 4 he has contested at that level. That is not a horse sneaking past weaker rivals; that is a horse who keeps turning up on the biggest occasions and delivering. His summer of 2025 told the story clearly: he won at Newmarket in July, followed up at Goodwood later that month, and then went to Doncaster in September to win the St Leger, one of the most famous races in the world.

Trained by Aidan O'Brien at Cashel in County Tipperary — a yard that has sent out 144 winners already this season, which gives you a sense of its scale and ambition — Scandinavia is described by his team as a big, long-striding horse with a beautiful temperament. O'Brien has been open about what impresses him most: the horse keeps getting better every week, and while he stays a long distance exceptionally well, he has enough natural gears to come back to shorter trips if needed. There was early talk at the yard of him being a Derby horse, which tells you how highly he was regarded long before he started winning Group 1 races.

He raced just yesterday and won again, at Navan, suggesting the fire is very much still burning. O'Brien has mapped out a staying campaign for the season ahead, with the Vintage Crop and the Saval Beg among the likely targets. A possible Melbourne Cup entry adds an intriguing international dimension. The one thing his trainer watches closely is the ground — on soft or muddy going he can struggle slightly, and the post-Doncaster comments about conditions going "on the slow side" were notable. Get him on fast, dry ground, and you are likely to see him at his very best.