Uxmal

His breakthrough came at Tramore in September 2023, but the defining moment came nearly two years ago when he won a Class 2 race at Ascot on 22 June 2024—one of the top races in Britain, and a marker of real achievement. That victory, in the Queen Alexandra, was so impressive that his trainer Joseph Patrick O'Brien has made it clear the plan is to return to the same race this year. What happened in between is the story: Uxmal picked up a small injury in that Ascot race and has been absent since, which explains the long gap. He raced last just a day ago, suggesting O'Brien is finally bringing him back into serious contention.

The recent form reads like a horse rebuilding confidence after time away—a fourth, a third, a fifth, a seventh, then a first—but the yard is clearly purposeful. O'Brien, training from Owning Hill in Co Kilkerry and running a powerful operation that sent out 160 winners this season, knows exactly what this horse is for: long, gruelling races on whatever ground comes his way. Uxmal is not flashy or quick. He is a horse with a genuine engine and a destination already marked on the map.