The Bell Conductor

The most important thing to understand about The Bell Conductor is that he is a horse of strong preferences, and when those preferences align, he is genuinely hard to beat. On wet or muddy ground, he has won 2 of his 3 races — that is a 67% win rate, which is extraordinary by any standard. Short, sharp sprint distances of under five furlongs suit him best, with 3 wins from 8 races at that trip (38%). And then there is Southwell, a tight track in Nottinghamshire where he has won 3 of his 9 races — a number that says this horse has worked out exactly how to get around that particular circuit. Horses who keep returning to the same track and keep winning there are doing something right, even if nobody can fully explain what.

His most significant result was a Class 2 win at Pontefract in April 2024 — one of the better races in Britain at that level, and the kind of occasion that marks a horse out as genuinely useful rather than just a reliable lower-grade plodder. That win, combined with his career earnings of £74,000, tells you this is a horse who has competed and won at a meaningful level.

The recent picture is a little more complicated. He has not won in his last six races, and his last victory came at Chester in August 2024 — now 22 months ago. The latest runs show finishes of 3rd and 2nd mixed in with some sixths and a twelfth, which suggests he is still in the mix on his day but not quite finding that extra gear. Trainer Ivan Furtado's yard at Wiseton in South Yorkshire has sent out 43 winners this season, so the operation is clearly in good form. Jockey Paul Mulrennan has won 4 of their 10 races together — 40%, which is a remarkable partnership record — and if those two line up again on soft ground over a short trip at the right track, it would be unwise to look past him.