Wise Eagle

The headline is its record at Musselburgh, a tight, left-handed track on the Firth of Forth. Three wins from just seven races there makes it a genuine course specialist — winning almost half the time at a single venue is the kind of statistic that makes punters sit up. Both of its Class 2 victories — among the highest-level races in Britain — came at Musselburgh and at Pontefract in 2022 and 2023, which tells you this is a horse that has mixed it with some decent company and come out on top. A Class 2 win isn't handed out cheaply.

The partnership with jockey Daniel Tudhope is worth noting. In 12 races together, they've won 4 — that's 1 in every 3, a win rate of 33%. In jump terms that would be extraordinary; even on the flat, it's a combination that clearly clicks. Behind the scenes, trainer Adam Nicol operates a small yard out of Seahouses on the Northumberland coast, a long way from the glamour of Newmarket — yet his team has sent out 24 winners this season, which is a genuinely healthy tally for a stable of that size and location.

The honest bit: Wise Eagle hasn't won in six races, and the last victory came at Catterick Bridge in December 2024 — sixteen months ago now. Recent form reads 3-–-3-7-6-7, which means a couple of placed efforts buried among some quiet runs. At nine years old, and competing predominantly at Class 2 level — where it has managed just 2 wins from 18 races, or 1 in 9 — the bar it's trying to clear is a high one. The fact it raced just yesterday tells you it remains an active, healthy horse, but the wins may be harder to come by now than they were in that productive 2022-23 spell. Still, a course specialist with a proven partner and a trainer in form? Stranger things have happened than Wise Eagle finding one more moment in the sun.