Study Up

Put him on fast, dry ground and he becomes a different horse entirely. Two wins from three attempts in those conditions is a 67% win rate — that is an extraordinary number by any measure, suggesting that when the sun has been out and the surface is quick, Study Up is genuinely hard to beat. Trainer Mark Loughnane, who operates out of Rock Farm in Worcestershire and has sent out 25 winners already this season, has clearly learned to pick his spots with this horse. Loughnane has spoken warmly about Study Up's debut at Salisbury in July 2024, a win by nearly two lengths that immediately suggested there was ability there worth nurturing.

The recent form is the most compelling part of the story right now. His last six races read 8-2-1-4-3-7 — starting from today and reading backwards — which shows a horse who won at Leicester just three weeks ago and has been placed twice in the races either side of that victory. That Leicester win is his most recent, and with Study Up having raced just yesterday, he is clearly fit, active, and in the middle of a purple patch.

One slight puzzle in the record is that his best distances — five to six-and-a-half furlongs — have produced only 1 win from 4 races, a 25% win rate. That sounds modest until you consider that the two career wins are in there, meaning those races are still his home territory. And at Class 5, the level where he most often competes, he has oddly not won at all in four attempts — both victories came elsewhere, which hints that the team have occasionally found him winning at a slightly different level or track when the stars aligned. For a horse who clearly has conditions he thrives in, the challenge now is finding more of those days when dry ground and the right race combine to bring out his best.