Tatterstall

That Goodwood win on 30 July 2024 is the centrepiece of Tatterstall's career so far. Winning on the opening day of Glorious Goodwood — one of the most celebrated meetings in the British racing calendar — in a Class 2 race, one of the top tiers in the country, is a genuine achievement. It wasn't a fluke either. Chloe Dods, who helps run the yard, noted after his Epsom win that Tatterstall "battled back" when it was asked of him — the kind of detail that tells you this horse has something beyond raw speed. He hangs a little in a finish, meaning he drifts sideways under pressure, but he finds a way to win.

The key to getting the best out of him is straightforward: fast, dry ground and five furlongs. He doesn't handle wet or muddy conditions well, which does limit where and when the yard can run him. But on quick ground over that sharp, straight sprint trip, he's shown he can mix it at a high level. Connor Beasley, his most regular rider, has won 3 of their 14 races together — roughly 1 in every 5 — which mirrors the horse's overall record almost exactly. That kind of consistency between horse and jockey usually means they understand each other well.

Tatterstall hasn't raced for around eight months now, and his recent form before that break was patchy — a tenth and a sixteenth before the layoff, though he'd been competitive earlier in that sequence. The question on his return is whether the freshness of a long break brings back the horse who won at Goodwood, or whether it takes a race or two to find his rhythm. Michael Dods has had a productive season, sending out 43 winners from the yard, so the team clearly knows how to have a horse ready. If the ground comes up fast this summer, Tatterstall is exactly the kind of horse worth keeping an eye on.