So Darn Hot

Until mid-2025, he was genuinely competitive. He won on normal ground at Windsor in June of that year, and before that strung together wins on artificial surfaces at Newcastle and Lingfield in early 2025, both Class 2 races. His Lingfield victory stood out: he triumphed without the shelter of a leading horse to draft behind, carrying weight that would have stopped most horses in their tracks. The fact that he found a way to win anyway hints at the competitive streak his trainer, Ed Walker, has noticed—a willingness to dig in when pressed. But then nothing. Eleven runs without a win, drifting from success into a long, frustrating drought that lasted nearly two years.

What's notable is that he hasn't abandoned the track entirely. He raced for the first time in three months at Newcastle's All-Weather Championships finals in April 2026, running creditably from an awkward draw. Walker, based at Upper Lambourn with a yard that has already sent out 76 winners this season, reckons So Darn Hot will be competitive in Class 2 races over seven furlongs through 2026, though he's probably not ideally weighted at present. There's talk of trying him over a mile further down the line. On normal ground he wins roughly one in three races—markedly better than his overall record—which gives the trainer something to work with. For now, So Darn Hot remains an active horse with unfinished business, a mid-tier competitor waiting for the conditions and the race to align.