Zeus Olympios

The big moments have come thick and fast. Zeus Olympios broke through at Kempton Park in January 2025, then landed back-to-back Class 1 races — the highest level of racing in Britain — at Haydock in September and Newmarket the following month. Those are not races horses stumble into winning; they are the ones that confirm a horse belongs at the very top of the sport. His latest win, at Ascot just this week, keeps that momentum rolling. His recent form reads 1-4-3-3-1-1, meaning three wins from his last six races, with the two middle efforts — a pair of thirds — sandwiching that sequence in a way that looks less like weakness and more like a horse being carefully managed toward bigger targets.

What stands out most clearly is how good he is over seven furlongs to a mile. At that trip, he has won all three of his races — a perfect record. Burke has spoken about a horse with a high cruising speed and a sharp turn of foot, which is exactly the profile you want at a mile. Those qualities played out at Sandown when Zeus Olympios finished narrowly behind Field Of Gold, giving the winner three pounds in weight. Burke was measured in defeat — "no excuses," he said, pointing out that his horse was carrying a few extra kilos and would come on for the run. He was right.

The trainer has made no secret of where this horse is headed. The Lockinge at Newbury — one of the most prestigious mile races on the calendar — has been mentioned repeatedly, with the Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot also in the frame. Burke described Zeus Olympios as a horse who has "physically improved from month to month," and lamented that owner Sheikh Mohammed Obaid was not alive to see him develop. That sense of a horse still finding his ceiling, combined with a flawless record at his best trip, makes Zeus Olympios one of the more compelling milers in training right now.