Tommy Cullen

Matt Crawley's yard at Newmarket appears to have the measure of Tommy Cullen. The horse was given his debut in a bumper and finished mid-division, but he has genuinely grown into the game over the past three months and went to Doncaster last month where he won by a distance, beating his rivals by 19 lengths over two miles and three and a half furlongs. That is the kind of performance that catches attention. He typically races in Class 4, where he has won just 1 of 11 races—a 9% win rate in that bracket, which means he is below-average at that level. But Doncaster, for reasons the owner Jane May attributes to the horse's preference for the track itself, seems to bring out something different. Jack Quinlan, his most regular jockey, has ridden him to 2 wins from 11 races together, an 18% rate that is solid without being spectacular. Tommy Cullen is a horse that works best on his own terms, at his own track, and on his own days—the kind of performer that requires a little patience but can reward it.