Senor Cortez

He is trained by John Butler at Newmarket, one of the most famous training centres in the sport, set in the rolling Suffolk countryside where thousands of racehorses are prepared each year. Butler's yard has sent out 34 winners already this season, which tells you this is not a small or quiet operation — these are people who know how to get a horse ready to win.

What makes Senor Cortez genuinely interesting is where he does his best work. Over longer distances — between a mile and six furlongs and two miles, the kind of test that sorts out horses with real stamina — he has won 2 races from just 7, a win rate of 29%, or nearly 1 in every 3 races. That is a dramatically better record than his overall figures suggest, and it points to a horse who needs a real gallop to show his best. His first win came at Great Yarmouth in August 2025, and he followed that up at Lingfield Park just three weeks later. Two wins in quick succession at that stage of the season suggested a horse hitting form at exactly the right time.

He has spent most of his career competing at Class 5 level, which is the level where the competition is more open and where horses are still finding their feet. Winning 1 in every 6 races at that level is fine without being spectacular — but his recent performances suggest he may have more to offer than that record implies. With his form arrow pointing firmly upward and a trainer firing on all cylinders this season, Senor Cortez looks like a horse worth keeping a close eye on over the weeks ahead.