Winds Of Winter

The most interesting chapter of this horse's story is what happens when it gets to Cartmel, a small, quirky track in the Lake District that draws devoted regulars and confounds outsiders. Winds Of Winter has won 2 of its 5 races there — that is a 40% win rate at a single course, which is a remarkable number by any measure. For context, most horses win roughly 1 in every 10 races across their career; winning 2 from 5 at one venue is the kind of record that makes people take notice when the entries come out. Both wins came in 2025, the first on 28 May and the second on 19 July, suggesting the horse was in the form of its life in the summer.

Ground conditions matter too. On slightly soft going — what you might call damp but not waterlogged — Winds Of Winter wins 2 from 6 races, which works out at 33%, or roughly 1 in every 3. That is a significant edge, and given that Cartmel sits in Cumbria and sees its fair share of wet weather, the two things fit together nicely.

Trained by George Bewley out of Colby in Cumbria — practically local to Cartmel — the yard has sent out 7 winners this season, so it is a functioning, active operation rather than a holding pattern. The regular partnership with Brian Hughes, however, has not clicked: nine races together and no wins yet, which is the kind of stat that nags quietly at the back of your mind without telling you exactly what to do about it.

Winds Of Winter raced just yesterday and has not won in its last 6 outings. The Cartmel wins are now 12 months behind it. Whether that summer purple patch was a high point or a sign of what this horse can still do on the right day, in the right ground, at the right track, is the question worth watching.