Sword

Its two wins are spread over a decent stretch of time. The first came at Newcastle in October 2024, and the second at Leicester in June 2025 — thirteen months ago now, which means Sword has gone six races without finding the winner's enclosure. Recent form reads 6-3-8-11-2-8, which is a mixed picture: there is a second place in there that shows the ability is still present, but the big numbers on either side of it suggest things have not clicked consistently. It raced just yesterday, so this is a horse very much in the thick of an active campaign.

Daniel Tudhope has been the regular partner, riding Sword in 7 of its 21 races and winning once together — that is 1 from 7, or just under 1 in 7. The pair clearly have a working relationship, even if the results have not always followed. Sword is trained by Stuart Williams at Newmarket, one of British racing's great training centres. Williams has had a productive season, sending out 67 winners from his yard — a figure that says this is an operation that knows how to prepare horses to win. The question for Sword is whether it can find its way back to the front end of a race and add a third win to its tally.