Striking A Pose

The place to start is Exeter. On that tricky, undulating Devon track, Striking A Pose has won 2 of its 6 races there, which is a remarkable return for any horse. Win 1 in every 3 races at a course and you are not just visiting — you are at home. The first of those wins came on 10 November 2021, and it clearly suits something about how the horse runs. Add in the fact that it also does its best work on slightly soft, damp ground — winning 2 from 10 races in those conditions, or 1 in 5 — and you start to build a picture of a horse that knows exactly what it likes.

Joe Tizzard trains it from his yard in Milborne Port, Dorset, a team that has sent out 54 winners already this season, so this is not a quiet backwater operation. Brendan Powell rides Striking A Pose most often — they have partnered up 17 times together — though their shared win rate of 1 from 17 (around 6%) tells you the horse is competing at Class 3 level, which is solid rather than spectacular. These are decent, competitive races, and finishing in the top three 13 times shows a horse that is nearly always in the conversation, even when the win does not come.

The most recent win was at Warwick on 10 May 2025 — about 11 months ago now — and the last six runs have not produced another victory, with finishes of third, and then a run of mid-pack results. But Striking A Pose raced just one day ago, which means this is a horse very much still in the middle of its story. At 10 years old, with a course it genuinely loves and ground conditions that bring out its best, the next chapter could easily be written on a wet afternoon in Exeter.