Racing Horses To Watch In 2022

While trainers work behind the scenes and jockeys ride them to victory, it’s the horse that wins the race. That’s why horseracing fans and speculators are wise to keep track of the up-and-coming horses that may have a bright future in the industry, especially when they haven’t made a name for themselves yet and the odds are still profitable.

Here we have identified five horses that you should watch in 2022 and beyond. If you are part of the betting crowd and want to use this information to get in on the action, you should check out TVG’s Pegasus World Cup betting odds and their odds on other horseracing events.

Bareback Jack

Having made their first start at Musselburgh, Bareback Jack is a five-year-old gelding owned by Tim Leslie and trained by Donald McCain that won three of the four races they ran. One of these victories was against Long Stay, so we’ve already seen that Bareback Jack can at least reach the same level of notoriety, and early fans could measure this horse’s ability.

From there, Bareback Jack went to Catterick where they won under penalty and established a 100% win record. The horse’s latest run was at Kelso, where Bareback Jack ran a hurdle contest on Morebattle hurdle day and impressed on the difficult field, even if My Drogo won the race instead.

The day was underwhelming with Bareback Jack’s other runs in mind but the horse’s performance should improve under McCain’s guidance. Having made a promising start, Bareback Jack should have many great races ahead of them as they mature and get better at what they do.

Big King

A seven-year-old gelding owned and trained by Barry Connell, who also has some jockeying experience, Big King is just one of the latest in a long line of Connell’s horses. If this horse has a similar trajectory to some of Connell’s other contributions to Leopardstown races. If you take action at Leopardstown, you should keep an eye out for Big King and Connell’s other horses.

Having only started last year, Big King ran behind Railway Hurricane and The Shunter in two maiden hurdles but still put in a good enough performance. Big King is now newly handicapped and went on to have another great run in Navan, winning by five lengths, and winning second in a big field hurdle in Leopardstown. Nearing eight, Big King is a great horse to follow into handicaps and shouldn’t be ruled out as a great jumping horse, either.

Dysart Dynamo

Dysart Dynamo is another five-year-old gelding that fans should keep their eyes on in the future. Trained by Willie Mullins and owned by Ms. Eleanor Manning, Dynamo is a new horse that debuted in March by running a bumper at Clonmel. There, Dynamo beat More Than A Memory, providing a useful way to measure roughly where this new horse stands against others.

Even with that win in mind, there needed to be more if Dysart Dynamo was going to stand out in the eyes of fans and gamblers. This happened at Punchestown, where Dynamo ran a bumper against some tough competition that solidified this horse as an animal to follow. Another great horse, Gordon Dai Dai, was second but couldn’t compete with Dynamo.

When you take those wins in mind and consider that there’s still some improvement to go, Dysart Dynamo becomes a much more exciting prospect for following through the 2020s. They’re a big horse who still has room to physically grow alongside growing in discipline.

Easy As That

Owned by Kate and Andrew Brooks and trained by Venetia Williams, Easy As That is a six-year-old gelding who may not be graceful on the field yet has great ability, and great ability to improve. This raw horse should sharpen up over 2022 and the following years, making them an exciting prospect.

They got their start at Ffos Las, where they won by four lengths in a bumper. Then they defied a penalty, no small feat in British horseracing, which also involved handily beating Onward Route. This provided a yardstick to measure Easy As That’s performance against.

Easy As That struggled with hurdles, winning one of three hurdle races run last year. This started with a debut at Bangor where he clumsily traversed the course’s obstacles and then put in a similar performance at Chepstow, where they finished in fourth.

It became evident that Easy As That needs to focus on concentration so that their hurdle game can improve since it’s a constant shortcoming in the runs this horse has made so far. Even when they finish first, they’d have been better if they respected the hurdles. While this is one to watch, he’s probably best backed during the cold season where the horse is running on soft ground.