Yanifer

The Chester connection is the headline act here. Yanifer won a top-level Class 2 race at the track in August 2024, then came back almost exactly a year later and did it again on 30 August 2025. Winning one of the top races in Britain is a serious achievement for any horse. Winning the same calibre of race at the same course in back-to-back years tells you this is a horse that genuinely thrives on that tight, almost circular track — one of the most unusual and demanding in the country. Chester sorts out horses quickly, and Yanifer keeps passing the test.

The overall record — 6 wins and 13 further places from 28 races, a win rate of around 1 in every 5 outings — reflects a horse that is competitive without being dominant everywhere it goes. The recent form shows some distance performances (finishing 9th, 12th, and 14th in the last three runs), which suggests Yanifer is not firing on all cylinders away from Chester right now, or is simply meeting stronger opposition. But it raced just one day ago, which means it is still very much in active training and clearly being targeted at the big days.

Jockey Oisin McSweeney has become the regular partner, riding Yanifer nine times and winning on 3 of those occasions — a 33% win rate together, which is an excellent partnership by any measure. Behind the scenes, trainer Harriet Bethell runs the operation out of Arnold in East Yorkshire, and has sent out 18 winners this season alone — a yard clearly in decent form. Bethell has shown she knows when and where to aim Yanifer to get the best out of it, and the Chester double suggests she has the horse's preferences figured out precisely. With that August fixture at Chester likely to come around again, it would be no surprise at all to see Yanifer pointed straight back there.