Tropical Storm

The first win came at York in August 2024, which was also the first win of Tropical Storm's career. The second came right back at York in May 2025, again at Class 1 level. Winning two of the biggest races the sport offers, at the same venue, as a young horse, is not something you see every day. At York specifically, the record reads 2 wins from just 4 races — that's a 50% win rate at a track where even the very best horses struggle to go 1 for 2. That's not a coincidence; that's a horse that clearly loves the place.

Ground matters too. On fast, dry ground, Tropical Storm has won 2 from 6 races — a win rate of 33%, or roughly 1 in every 3. On softer going, nothing. The pattern is clear: this horse wants the ground quick and the occasion big.

Jockey Oisin Murphy has been the regular partner, riding in 11 of the 16 races and picking up both wins. That's a meaningful partnership — Murphy wins roughly 1 in every 5 races on Tropical Storm, which is significantly better than the overall career average. Trainer Andrew Balding, based at Kingsclere in Hampshire, has been extraordinary this season with 202 winners from the yard. That kind of firepower behind a horse that competes almost exclusively at the highest level says everything about where Tropical Storm fits in the pecking order.

The recent form is harder to spin — 5th, 12th, 3rd, 8th, 9th, 14th in the last six races, with no win since that May 2025 York success. The last victory was technically 14 months ago, and the horse raced just yesterday without troubling the judge. But the career story here isn't about consistency. It's about a horse that turns up at York, in a top race, on fast ground, and quietly becomes something special. Whether it does so again is the question worth watching.