Turpin Gold

His best work tends to come at the level where he competes most often — the less glamorous but fiercely competitive Class 5 tier, where he has won 3 of his 11 races at that level, or roughly 1 in every 4. That is a genuinely strong record. These are not the headline races, but they suit him perfectly, and his team clearly knows how to find the right spots. Tom Lacey, who trains him out of Woolhope in Herefordshire, has had a productive season — 37 winners sent out already — and Turpin Gold is part of a yard that clearly knows what it is doing.

His regular partner in the saddle is Sean Houlihan, who has ridden him in 10 of his 22 races and won once together — that is 1 win in 10, or 10%, which sounds modest but tells a slightly misleading story. The pair have simply kept meeting in races where Turpin Gold has finished in the frame rather than taken top spot. Houlihan knows this horse as well as anyone.

The most recent win came at Newton Abbot in August 2025 — nine months ago now — which makes the recent form all the more interesting. His last six results read: a second, a win, a fourth, a second, a tenth, and a third (reading from oldest to most recent). After that win, he has slipped back a little, but two seconds and a third in his last three completed efforts suggest he is knocking on the door again. He raced just yesterday, which means he is right in the middle of his season.

His first career win came at Stratford-on-Avon back in September 2022, and he has been a consistent if unspectacular earner ever since. At ten, he is no youngster with a big future to project onto — but that is not really the point. Turpin Gold is a horse who turns up, competes, and keeps finding a way to be relevant. That deserves more credit than it usually gets.