Tryfan

Tryfan is a five-year-old with a career record of 4 wins and 10 places from 19 races, which works out at winning roughly 1 in every 5 outings. That is a solid return, but the numbers alone do not tell you much. What does is the trajectory. He won 2 of his last 6 races, his most recent coming at Ascot just this week — one of the sport's most famous venues and a step up from the kind of tracks where most horses at his level do their best work. Winning at Ascot means something. It is not a place that flatters moderate horses.

Charlton had high hopes for him even back in the spring of 2024, describing Tryfan as probably the best three-year-old in the yard at the time, with genuine expectations of him reaching a rating in the 90s. He pointed to an early race at Newcastle where a stalls mishap cost the horse six lengths at the start — and yet he was only beaten by three lengths, with the winner going on to win again. In other words, Tryfan was doing more with less right from the beginning.

His first career win did eventually come at Newcastle on 27 June 2024, which had a pleasing sense of unfinished business about it. Since then, he has competed most often at Class 4 level — one rung below the top tier — winning 2 of his 7 races at that grade, or just under 1 in 3. That is a decent record, though the Ascot win this week hints he may be outgrowing that company.

One thing that stands out is his record on fast, dry ground: 2 wins from just 5 races in those conditions, a 40% hit rate. That is genuinely impressive — winning 2 in every 5 races on a specific surface suggests a horse that not only handles it but actively thrives on it. Jockey Ben Robinson has been aboard for 5 of his 19 races, winning once together, and the partnership continues to develop. With Charlton's yard having sent out 38 winners already this season, Tryfan is operating in a stable in fine form — and on this week's evidence, he is very much in the thick of it.