Skyjack Hijack

The trouble is, he hasn't won since. His last six races have brought only places—fourth, fifth, sixth, fifth again—and that Newcastle victory now sits 22 months in the past. Trainer Jennie Candlish, based in Staffordshire, has been candid about the setbacks. After running at Cheltenham, he said the horse had perhaps done "one run too many" and that he simply wasn't suited to the track, noting he would likely be better at Aintree. Still, he backed him completely, calling him a "superstar" and suggesting he had the raw jumping ability of a Champion Hurdle horse. His jockey Sean Quinlan, who has ridden him to four wins from ten races together, has echoed that sentiment about his jumping—describing it as so quick and accurate it reminded him of top-class hurdlers.

What's interesting now is the question mark hanging over him. In Class 3 races, where he has competed just three times, he has won two of them—a 67% win rate at that level. But recent form suggests he may have plateaued. At eight years old, with a gap of nearly two years since his last win, Skyjack Hijack remains an active racehorse with undoubted talent, yet the momentum that once looked unstoppable has stalled. Candlish has mentioned targets like the River Don at Doncaster in January on better ground, and talk of Cheltenham and the Albert Bartlett, but for now he is a horse waiting to remind everyone what he can do.