Union Island

The Johnston yard is one of the most prolific in Britain right now, having sent out 128 winners already this season, so Union Island is competing for its place in a busy and successful operation. The horse's most regular partner in the saddle has been Sean D Bowen, and that combination has clicked: 4 wins from 13 races together, meaning they win roughly 1 in every 3 times they team up. That's a meaningful number — it tells you these two have a real understanding.

Union Island tends to line up in the less glamorous end of the racing calendar — Class 6, the entry level of the British racing pyramid — and has won 5 of its 16 races at that level, a rate of just under 1 in 3. What really stands out, though, is how the horse performs on normal ground conditions. In 6 races on a standard surface, it has won 4 of them. That's not luck — that's a horse that genuinely thrives when conditions suit.

There's also a course-specialist story developing at Bath, a famously tricky track on a hill in Somerset where many horses struggle with the unusual layout. Union Island has won 2 of its 3 races there, which is the kind of record that makes trainers come back to the same venue again and again.

Recent form is the icing on the cake: a win just three weeks ago at Leicester, and two wins from its last six races overall. With the horse having raced as recently as yesterday, it's clearly fit and firing. Union Island started winning in July 2024 at Musselburgh and hasn't stopped. For a horse competing at this level, that kind of consistency — 8 wins, still active, still winning — is exactly what owners hope for when they buy a young horse and point it at a racing career.