The Cookstown Cafu

His best distance is somewhere between a mile and a mile and a quarter, and the record there is genuinely striking: 4 wins from 13 races at that trip, which works out to nearly 1 in every 3. For a horse competing at this level, that kind of precision — knowing exactly where a horse thrives — is exactly what a good team builds a season around. Trainer Fionn McSharry has done exactly that, and the yard has sent out 7 winners already this season, suggesting the horses are in good form.

Pontefract is where it all started. The Cookstown Cafu won there for the first time in October 2022, and has since won 2 of his 4 races at the track — a record that marks him out as a genuine course specialist. There is something about a horse who returns to the same venue and performs, almost like a sportsman who raises their game at a particular stadium. His regular jockey Rowan Scott has been aboard for 9 of his races and ridden him to 2 wins — winning roughly 1 in every 4.5 rides together, which is a solid partnership at this level.

Most of his career has been spent in Class 4 company, which sits in the middle tier of British racing. His win rate there is 2 from 19 — 1 in every 9 or 10 — but he has won more freely when conditions and distance align. His trainer noted after a wind operation that horses from this family tend to improve with age, and that observation looks well-founded: he won at Newcastle as recently as seven weeks ago, and raced just yesterday. At seven years old, he is still firmly in the picture.