Zoum Zoum

Zoum Zoum is a five-year-old with three wins and seven places from 16 races — a win rate of roughly 1 in every 5, or 19% across his career. His first win came at Kempton Park in October 2023, and his best moment arrived almost exactly a year later when he stepped up to win a Class 2 race at Doncaster in October 2024. For context, a Class 2 race sits just one level below the very best races in Britain, so that was a genuine performance worth remembering. Beckett's assistant Joe Tuite described him afterwards as "very professional" — the kind of horse the yard has always believed in.

The complication is what has happened since. That Doncaster win was now 20 months ago, and Zoum Zoum has gone six races without adding to it. His recent form reads 7-4-2-2-9-5, which tells the story of a horse placing often enough to suggest the ability is still there, but not quite finding the extra gear needed to win. It is also worth noting that against the very top competition — Class 1 races, the elite tier — he has managed zero wins from nine attempts. That is a hard record to overlook, though a horse who can win at Class 2 level clearly has quality; he just may not be quite the finished article at the highest grade.

His best results have come with Rob Hornby in the saddle. That partnership has produced 3 wins from just 5 races together — a remarkable hit rate of 60%, or 3 from every 5 rides. Whatever the combination brings out in him, it works. Zoum Zoum raced just yesterday, so he is very much in active training, and with a yard in such good form around him, another win is not out of the question — he just needs to find the form that lit up Doncaster one more time.