Uncle Bert

The yard behind him is the Naunton stable run by Nigel and Willy Twiston-Davies, one of the most recognisable training operations in British jump racing. With 61 winners sent out already this season, this is a team that knows what it is doing — and they clearly know how to place Uncle Bert to his strengths. Two of his wins have come at Class 2 level, which means he has beaten good horses in some of the better races in the country, not just picking up easy wins against weaker opposition. He has won at Aintree, Bangor-on-Dee and Warwick, showing he can travel and perform on different tracks.

Most often in the saddle is Sam Twiston-Davies, son of co-trainer Nigel, who has partnered Uncle Bert in 16 of his 25 races. Their combined record reads 2 wins from those 16 — roughly 1 in 8 — which sounds modest until you remember that not all 16 came on the wet ground where Uncle Bert excels. The big one came just four months ago, in December 2025 at Aintree, when Uncle Bert won a Class 2 race at one of the most famous venues in the sport. For a nine-year-old horse, that is a serious achievement and a reminder that age is no barrier when the ground is right and the horse is in form.

His recent run of results — two seventh-place finishes and a win from his last four completed races — suggests he is ticking along nicely. With wet ground anywhere in Britain this winter, Uncle Bert will be worth watching.