Zowal

The recent form tells an interesting story. Cast your eye back through the last six runs and you see a string of modest finishes — sevenths, a seventeenth — before the picture suddenly changes. Zowal broke through for a first career win at Musselburgh on 2nd April 2025, and then, just five days later, landed another victory at Pontefract. Back-to-back wins in the space of a week is the kind of purple patch that gets people paying attention. It is one thing to win; it is another to back it up almost immediately, and that Pontefract success came just this week, meaning Zowal heads into whatever comes next on the crest of a wave.

What makes that run of form more impressive is the context. Zowal has raced three times at Class 4 level — one step below the top tier, where the fields are competitive and nothing comes easily — and had not managed a win at that grade until now. Winning 0 from 3 at that level and then clicking into gear the way this horse has done suggests a horse that has been learning on the job and is now cashing in on that experience.

Behind the scenes, the operation responsible for Zowal is the yard run by John and Sean Quinn, based in Norton, North Yorkshire. With 42 winners sent out already this season, this is a stable in seriously good form — not a one-horse operation getting lucky, but a yard firing on all cylinders. When a horse trained by people in that kind of rhythm suddenly strings two wins together, it tends not to be a coincidence. The timing, the targets, the preparation — all of it matters, and the Quinns are clearly getting those calls right at the moment. For Zowal, arriving at this point as a 4-year-old with momentum behind them and a sharp team in their corner, the next few weeks look worth watching.