The Cookstown Cafu

The most striking part of The Cookstown Cafu's profile is what it does over a mile and a furlong to a mile and two furlongs. Over that range it has won four times from 14 races — nearly one in three — which is a genuinely strong win rate and suggests those distances bring out the best in it. The horse is also a course specialist at Pontefract, where it has won two from four races, a clear sign that something about the track suits its running style. Its last win came at Newcastle in April, six months ago, and it has only once placed in its last six races, so form has been patchy of late.

Trainer Fionn McSharry has noted that The Cookstown Cafu benefits from maturity and has thrived since a wind operation, which often unlocks improvement in horses that were struggling to breathe properly under pressure. The horse is a regular partner of jockey Rowan Scott, who has won two of nine races aboard it — a 22% win rate together, considerably better than the horse's overall figures, suggesting they work well as a pair. At the Class 4 level where it typically competes, the horse has managed just two wins from 19 races, so it will need a change in fortune or potentially a drop in class to get back to the winner's enclosure regularly. Currently active and raced just a day ago, it remains a work in progress — capable on its day, particularly at the right distance and over familiar ground, but still searching for consistency.