Stintino Sunset

The real story with Stintino Sunset is about knowing where she runs best. On fast, dry ground she becomes a different proposition entirely — winning at nearly one in every five races. Put her on soft or muddy ground and her chances plummet. Her sweet spot is the mile-and-three-furlong to mile-and-four-furlong distance, where she has won four of her 22 races. This is the profile of a horse whose the yard have learned her quirks and book her accordingly. She made her breakthrough at Leicester in August 2023, and has been a fixture in the system ever since.

His partnership with jockey Dylan Hogan tells its own story: two wins from 35 rides together is a modest 6 per cent win rate, but they clearly understand each other. Trained by Julia and Shelley Birkett's Newmarket yard — a setup that has sent out 15 winners this season — Stintino Sunset is in an environment where he is well understood. Her most recent form reads like the record of a genuine racehorse: a win, then a second place, two thirds and a fourth from her last six runs. That win this week at Bath suggests she still has plenty to give. She is no superstar, but she is the kind of honest, consistent performer that racing depends on: a horse that shows up every time and gives her the yard reason to keep saddling her up.