Seagulls Eleven

The Class 1 win at Goodwood in August 2025 was the landmark moment, but the headline from his trainer's own comments is just as telling: Palmer has been deliberately routing Seagulls Eleven around turning tracks and small fields, because that is where the horse does his best work. He skipped Royal Ascot — one of the most prestigious meetings in the calendar — because the straight course there simply does not play to his strengths. That kind of tactical patience from a trainer who clearly knows his horse well speaks to how carefully this one is being managed.

At a distance of around a mile to a mile and a quarter, Seagulls Eleven has won 2 of his 4 races, a 50% win rate that is genuinely exceptional at this level. Outside that range he is harder to win with, but he rarely embarrasses himself. His recent form reads 3-1-8-1-2-6 — two wins and two runner-up finishes in his last five completed races before the latest — and Palmer's post-race comments after the Saint-Cloud run described it as "a really gutsy race," beaten only by a horse with the advantage of a prep run under its belt.

He is currently competing across the Channel in France, where Palmer believes the track configurations suit him better than many British venues. The trainer has mentioned the Summer Mile at Ascot — a round track, often a small field — as a likely next target, with a possible tilt at the Sussex Stakes beyond that. For a horse who has already won at the top level and is still only four, there is clearly more to come.