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Horse profile

Magical Merlot (GB)

3yo gelding · Trainer Ed Dunlop · Owner Johnny Hall
by Make Believe (GB) out of Melodic Motion (IRE) (Nathaniel)
11 runs · 8 courses · from Aug 2025
As at 8 Nov 2026 · KTB archive: GB, Ireland & France · 2005–present, updated daily
2 wins · Newbury & Brighton Last run 15 Sep 2026 · 3rd of 7 Last raced off OR 78
KTB Profile

Magical Merlot is 2 from 11, both wins at Class 4 level. He won the Sheldrake Training Limited 'train An Apprentice' Handicap Stakes at Newbury in Aug 2026 over 1m2f – 1m4f on good to firm off 75 and the Star Sports EBF 'Confined' Restricted Novice Stakes at Brighton in Oct 2025 over 1m – 1m1f on good to firm off 75. All wins have come on good to firm. He finished 3 of 7 at Redcar in Sep 2026 when last raced off his career-high mark of 78. Typically held up.

Based on 11 archived runs · run-style from 11 commented runs since Aug 2025 · updated 8 Nov 2026
KTB at a glance All wins at Class 4 OR at career high
Official rating78At career-high mark
78 75–78

KTB Speed and Rating

KTB Speed

Best recent Speed 89 the best of the last 3 graded (A or B) runs · Redcar, 15 Sep 2026

How fast the horse ran, as points against the day-corrected standard time for its course and distance: 100 is the median GB Class 4 handicap winner on that code; one point is 0.1% of the standard time. A, B or C is how much the day's card could tell us, not how good the run was. What this means →

Flat 11 figures · best 89A · median 86
GoingRunsBestMedianSince 8 Nov 2025
Good to Firm688A864 runs · 88 / 86
Good389A812 runs · 89 / 85
Standard (AW)289A861 run · —
DistanceRunsBestMedianSince 8 Nov 2025
1m – 1m1f789A865 runs · 89 / 86
1m2f – 1m4f289A88.52 runs · 89 / 88.5
6f – 7f283A79—

KTB Speed v1 · batch 15 Sep 2026 · GB & Irish racing only · 11 figures from 11 runs · as at 3 Oct 2026 · a record, not a forecast

KTB Rating

Best recent KTB Rating 84A the best of the last 3 rated runs · Newbury, 26 Aug 2026 Official rating 78 at the last run, 15 Sep 2026

What the horse achieved in each race, in pounds on the official-rating scale, from the weight carried, the lengths beaten and the race's own level solved across the archive — never the market, never the official rating as a starting point. The headline is the best of the horse's last three rated runs on that code — its best recent day. The KTB Rating on a racecard is a different reading of the same figures: the level the horse has been running to, an average of up to its last six runs with the latest counting most, so the two can differ. A, B or C on a run is how much known form was in that race. What this means →

Flat 11 figures · best 89A · median 81
GoingRunsBestMedianSince 8 Nov 2025
Good to Firm689A82.54 runs · 89 / 81
Good382A782 runs · 78 / 73.5
Standard (AW)289A821 run · —
DistanceRunsBestMedianSince 8 Nov 2025
1m – 1m1f789A785 runs · 89 / 75
1m2f – 1m4f284A812 runs · 84 / 81
6f – 7f289A87.5—

KTB Rating v1 · batch 3 Oct 2026 · GB & Irish racing only · 11 figures from 11 runs · as at 4 Oct 2026 · a record, not a forecast

Both figures are KTB's own, computed from the archive; no vendor rating enters either. Every run's figure is on its form line below with its grade. Grades measure how much the archive could see, never the merit of the run.

Run style from 11 analysed runs since Aug 2025

  • Held up 4 (36%) · 0 wins
  • Mid-division 4 (36%) · 0 wins
  • Prominent 3 (27%) · 2 wins

Pedigree intelligence

Sire
Make Believe (GB)

Progeny in our archive have won 11.1% of 3,628 runs since Apr 2019 (298 horses).

GoingRunsWinsSRvs sireThis horse
Firm5120%+8.9—
Good to Firm3424312.6%+1.52 from 6
Good8739911.3%+0.20 from 3
Good to Soft4385612.8%+1.7—
Soft7057310.4%−0.7—
Heavy276259.1%−2—
Standard (AW)98910510.6%−0.50 from 2
Distance (all codes)RunsWinsSRvs sireThis horse
Under 6f8178.6%−2.5—
6f – 7f8489511.2%+0.10 from 2
1m – 1m1f1,05410810.2%−0.91 from 7
1m2f – 1m4f7959411.8%+0.71 from 2
1m5f – 2m5457313.4%+2.3—
2m1f – 2m4f232229.5%−1.6—
2m5f – 3m6323.2%−7.9—
Over 3m10110%−1.1—

Flat and jumps together (all codes) · since Apr 2019 · as at 7 Nov 2026 · rows under 30 runs muted · win % is the measure, a record not a forecast

Dam
Melodic Motion (IRE) (Nathaniel)

1 sibling in the archive, 1 winner — best of them Houndsworth (IRE) (1 win).

The wins came over 2m.

ProduceRunsWinsWin tripsBest grade
Houndsworth (IRE)1512m—

Record by conditions

GoingRunsWinsSR£1
Good to Firm 6 2 33% +0.91
Good 3 0 0% −3.00
Standard (AW) 2 0 0% −2.00

ClassRunsWinsSR£1
Class 4 7 2 29% −0.09
Class 2 2 0 0% −2.00
Class 5 2 0 0% −2.00

CourseRunsWinsSR£1
Newbury 2 1 50% +3.00
Windsor 2 0 0% −2.00
Southwell (AW) 2 0 0% −2.00
Redcar 1 0 0% −1.00
Lingfield 1 0 0% −1.00
Musselburgh 1 0 0% −1.00
Brighton 1 1 100% +0.91
Thirsk 1 0 0% −1.00

DistanceRunsWinsSR£1
1m – 1m1f 7 1 14% −5.09
1m2f – 1m4f 2 1 50% +3.00
6f – 7f 2 0 0% −2.00

JockeyRunsWinsSR£1
David Egan 3 1 33% +2.00
Jason Hart 1 0 0% −1.00
Paddy Bradley 1 0 0% −1.00
Lauren Young 1 0 0% −1.00
Hector Crouch 1 0 0% −1.00
Mason Paetel 1 1 100% +0.91
P J McDonald 1 0 0% −1.00
Paul Mulrennan 1 0 0% −1.00
Rossa Ryan 1 0 0% −1.00

SeasonRunsWinsSR£1
2026 7 1 14% −2.00
2025 4 1 25% −2.09

Splits include every sample, however small — muted rows are under 3 runs. A one-from-one record is a fact, not a trend: read the Runs column before the strike rate.

Form

DateCourseRace PosBtn Wgt ORSpdKTB Jockey SP
2026 · 7 runs
15 Sep 26+20d Redcar Market Cross Jewellers Handicap Stakes (GBBPlus Race) Class 4 · 1m2f · Good · 7 ran Held up towards back - pushed along with 3f left - finished with modest late progress inside final furlong to take third 3/7 1¼ 9-3 7889A78A Jason Hart 9/4
26 Aug 26+13d Newbury Sheldrake Training Limited 'train An Apprentice' Handicap Stakes (gbbplus Race) Class 4 · 1m2f · Good To Firm · 7 ran Sat close behind the front group - made ground into contention approaching 2f out - hit the front inside the final furlong then edged off a straight line - kept finding under pressure to win 1/7 9-4 7588A84A David Egan 4/1
13 Aug 26+47d Windsor #Matchbook Loves Racing Handicap Stakes Class 4 · 1m · Good To Firm · 8 ran Held up in the pack - made progress through midfield from over 2f out - unable to match the front three inside the final furlong but stayed on for 4th 4/8 3 9-1 7786B73A David Egan 4/1
27 Jun 26+21d Lingfield Chris, Aleah And Ellanna Family Day Out Handicap Class 4 · 1m1f · Good To Firm · 5 ran Settled off the pace - pushed along in pursuit 2f out - one-paced through final furlong to finish third 3/5 2 9-2 7880C78B Paddy Bradley 11/8F
06 Jun 26+26d Musselburgh Edinburgh Cup Handicap Class 2 · 1m1f · Good · 7 ran Hampered start and dropped many lengths - settled towards back early over 2f - pushed along to pass tired runners inside final furlong - finished without threatening 4/7 9 8-1 7881A69A Lauren Young 9/4J
11 May 26+34d Windsor Rendells Are Hammers Handicap Class 4 · 1m · Good To Firm · 12 ran Sluggish start - fought for control early - settled towards the back - urged along with 3f left - made progress with 2f to go - stayed on inside final furlong to finish third 3/12 shd 9-6 7786A89A David Egan 15/2
07 Apr 26+173d Southwell (AW) Sky Sports Racing Virgin 512 Handicap Class 4 · 1m · Standard · 7 ran Settled in the pack - pushed along with 2f left - kept going without finding extra in the closing stages - finished fifth 5/7 2 9-6 7789A75A Hector Crouch 7/2C
2025 · 4 runs
16 Oct 25+13d Brighton Star Sports EBF 'Confined' Restricted Novice Stakes (GBB Race) Class 4 · 1m · Good To Firm · 7 ran Fought for control early - stayed handy - moved through to hit the front 5f out - driven and drifted right inside final furlong but held on gamely for the win 1/7 8-13 7587A81A Mason Paetel 10/11F
03 Oct 25+35d Southwell (AW) Free Tips Daily On attheraces.com Restricted Novice Stakes (GBB Race) (Div 1) Class 5 · 7f · Standard · 9 ran Raced eagerly early - up with the pace - moved through to the front two out - pushed along - edge cut down inside final furlong - overtaken near the line to finish second 2/9 1½ 9-7 —83A89A P J McDonald 7/4F
29 Aug 25+13d Thirsk British EBF Restricted Novice Stakes (GBB Race) Class 5 · 1m · Good · 11 ran Pulled hard early - settled midpack - pushed along a furlong out - responded to move up into third close home 3/11 4½ 9-4 —77B82A Paul Mulrennan 13/2
16 Aug 25 Newbury Tattersalls 40,000 EBF Novice Stakes (GBB Race) Class 2 · 7f · Good To Firm · 10 ran Held up towards the back - urged forward with 2f left - looked unfurnished and made no headway - beaten 5 lengths in 6th 6/10 nk 9-7 —75A86A Rossa Ryan 40/1

Quick answers

How many races has Magical Merlot won?
Magical Merlot (GB) won 2 of 11 archived starts between 2025 and 2026, a strike rate of 18.2%. Placed 5 times in total (45.5% of starts).
Who trains Magical Merlot?
Magical Merlot (GB) is trained by Ed Dunlop, who saddled the horse on its most recent run on 15 September 2026.
Who is Magical Merlot's sire?
Magical Merlot (GB) is by Make Believe (GB) out of Melodic Motion (IRE), whose sire is Nathaniel.
What going does Magical Merlot prefer?
Magical Merlot (GB) has the best record on good to firm going: 2 wins from 6 starts (33.3%). Only going bands with at least three archived starts are read, so this is a direction rather than a settled preference.
What is Magical Merlot's official rating?
The most recent official rating on record is 78, from the run on 15 September 2026. That is also the highest on record.
What is Magical Merlot's sire's record?
Make Believe (GB)'s progeny in our archive have won 11.1% of 3,628 runs since Apr 2019 (298 horses), Flat and jumps together.
Who are Magical Merlot's siblings?
Out of Melodic Motion (IRE), Magical Merlot (GB) has 1 other produce in our archive, 1 of them a winner. Most wins: Houndsworth (IRE) (1). The wins came over 2m. As at Nov 2026.

Record shown from August 2025. Our archive holds racing in Great Britain, Ireland and France from January 2005. Any runs before that, or in other countries, are not in it. In-running comments are available from 2024 onward.