Zeus Olympios

He started 2025 quietly enough at Kempton Park in January, but by September the picture had changed dramatically. He won a Class 1 race at Haydock Park on 6 September, and trainer Karl Burke admitted afterwards he had genuinely worried whether stepping him up to that level was the right call. William Buick, one of Britain's top jockeys, apparently had no such doubts — Burke recalled that Buick said he knew within a furlong of the start that he was sitting on something special. Three weeks later, Zeus Olympios went to Newmarket for another Class 1 contest and won again, this time at a step up in grade that Burke thought might be "a little too far at this stage." It wasn't. He won anyway.

Burke's yard at Coverham in North Yorkshire has sent out 140 winners this season alone, so this is not a small operation making big claims — these are people who know what a good horse looks like. And by Burke's own account, Zeus Olympios has physically improved month on month, is forward in his work, and has a "high cruising speed and a turn of foot" — which in plain terms means he travels comfortably within a race and can quicken sharply when asked. Those two qualities together are what separate the very best milers from the merely good ones.

The targets Burke is considering for the season ahead include the Lockinge at Newbury and the Queen Anne at Royal Ascot — two of the most prestigious mile races in Britain. There is also a mention of a possible prep run at Sandown. The one shadow over the story is a personal one: Burke noted it is a shame that Sheikh Mohammed Obaid, the horse's owner, is no longer around to see how this horse is developing. That aside, everything about Zeus Olympios — his record, his demeanour, and the ambition his trainer has for him — suggests a horse just now arriving at the level he was always heading for.