Twig

The headline moment came at Aintree on 6 December 2025, when Twig won a Class 1 race — one of the highest-tier races in British racing. Trainer Ben Pauling, whose yard at Naunton in Gloucestershire has sent out 89 winners this season alone, described it simply: "Twig's run a blinder." Jockey Beau Morgan, who has won 8 of 21 rides on the horse together — a partnership that clearly works — gave him what Pauling called a lovely ride, and Twig jumped brilliantly throughout. That kind of fluency over fences is a joy to watch and, at this level, absolutely essential. Just weeks earlier, in November, he had won a Class 2 race at Sandown Park, Pauling calling him "class" outright — high praise from a trainer not given to unnecessary superlatives.

The background to all of this is the Grand National. The entire previous season, Pauling admits, was built around getting Twig into the race. He made it, ran in the most famous steeplechase in the world, and finished tenth. By Grand National standards — a chaotic, pace-driven race over more than four miles — tenth is respectable. Pauling was philosophical: "you can't run like that in a National these days," but there was no despondency. The Aintree win in December, he noted, should push Twig's official rating high enough to qualify again, and a Veterans' Chase Final is also on the agenda. For an 11-year-old, that is a serious programme.

What makes Twig genuinely compelling is his record at Uttoxeter — two wins from three races there. That kind of course dominance is not a coincidence; some horses simply suit a track's shape and ground, and Twig has found one he loves. His recent form of 7-1-1-10-7-7 shows the inconsistency of a horse operating at the top level, but the two wins in that sequence were at Class 1 and Class 2. When Twig turns up for the right race, he delivers. That, ultimately, is all you can ask.