Zhang Fei

The yard behind Zhang Fei is worth noting. Fergal O'Brien, based in Withington in Gloucestershire, has sent out 90 winners already this season — that is a busy, productive operation with plenty of firepower. Jockey Fern O'Brien rides Zhang Fei most often, and the pair have built something of a partnership: 2 wins from 11 races together, a win rate of 18%, or nearly 1 in every 6 rides. That is comfortably better than Zhang Fei's overall record, which suggests there is a genuine understanding between horse and rider.

Zhang Fei clearly has preferences, and they are worth respecting. On slightly soft, wet ground, the record improves to 2 wins from 8 races — a 25% win rate, or 1 in 4. Over long distances of two miles or more, 2 wins from 13 races at 15% is again better than its overall average. Put both conditions together and you can start to see when this horse is at its most dangerous. The first career win came at Windsor in August 2022, and the most recent at Fakenham in December 2024 — a day before Christmas, over the kind of distance and ground that suits it best.

That Fakenham win is now 19 months ago, and Zhang Fei has not won in its last 6 races. The recent form — a seventh, a fourth, a fifth, and a third — reads like a horse that is competitive without quite finding the extra gear needed to win. It mostly competes at Class 5, the bread-and-butter level of British racing, where it has won just 1 from 15 races. Yet here it is, raced just yesterday, still active at eight years old. At a level where plenty of horses come and go quickly, that kind of longevity and consistency tells its own story.