West Wind Blows

The highlight of his career came on 15 July 2022, when he won a Class 1 race at Hamilton Park — one of the top races in Britain. That's the ceiling he has touched, and it's a high one. His trainer Simon Crisford had been quietly confident about him long before that day, telling people in the spring of 2022 that stepping up in distance would bring out the best in him. He was right. The Hamilton win was the proof. Since then, however, West Wind Blows has gone 6 races without a win, with the last victory now standing 48 months ago — a gap that is impossible to ignore.

Those recent races have taken him to some fascinating places. At Caulfield, he was involved in a finish so compelling that onlookers couldn't stop talking about it, trading blows with a horse called Without A Fight in what was described as a genuinely great spectacle. He came agonisingly close but didn't win. At Flemington, things went less smoothly — he had trouble at the barriers, was slow to break, and disappointed on the day. Both runs tell you something: this horse can still produce at a high level, but the margins are tight and small things matter.

He is trained by Simon and Ed Crisford out of Newmarket, a yard that has sent out 78 winners already this season — a serious operation in full flow. West Wind Blows raced just yesterday, so he remains very much an active competitor. At Class 1 level, he has won just 1 from 8 races (12%), which is honest rather than spectacular, but it also means he keeps being entered at the very top end. At seven, with his best distance known and a big yard behind him, one more day like Hamilton isn't out of the question.