Read an extract from Timeform's Horses To Follow for the 2026 Flat season that focuses on lead Flat analyst David Johnson's selection.
Jim Goldie picked up a Special Recognition Award at the Timeform Awards after a memorable season that saw Scotland’s leading Flat trainer register 100 winners in a calendar year for the first time. Other landmarks for Goldie included his 1000th success on the Flat when Inanna won at Hamilton in July and a first Group 1 winner when American Affair landed the King Charles III Stakes at Royal Ascot. American Affair started off in ordinary handicaps and is a fine example of how the stable’s older sprinters can improve out of all recognition. Another such horse the year before was Jordan Electrics who won seven handicaps in 2024, taking his BHA mark into the 100s at the age of eight.
Montezuma, who runs in the same colours as Jordan Electrics, starts his four-year-old campaign without a win to his name but has shown enough to suggest that he could be another older sprint handicapper well worth following this season. Montezuma was a Godolphin cast-off, bought for 55,000 guineas after finishing fifth in a couple of novices at two for Charlie Appleby. His first run for new connections in a maiden at Hamilton was over nine furlongs, too long a trip, but meant he was qualified for handicaps.
Switched to sprints, Montezuma made the frame in his next four starts, back at Hamilton and then at Chepstow, Windsor and Musselburgh. His two ventures south came in competitive Racing League races under apprentice Amie Waugh and he did well to finish third at Windsor having pulled his way to the front, essentially doing too much too soon. Just about his best effort came on his next outing at Musselburgh, dropping down to five furlongs for the first time and with Paul Mulrennan on board, finishing three-quarters of a length second to fellow three-year-old I’m Next (replay below). Back over six furlongs at Ayr on his final start, Montezuma fared less well in sixth, racing freely again and giving the impression the minimum trip might suit him ideally. A useful-looking gelding who acts on firm ground, Montezuma has relatively few miles on the clock for a sprinter and could still have a bit more to offer. Jim Goldie
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Conclusion: Still a maiden but showed enough ability to suggest he’ll win races; his stable excels with older sprinters.
Timeform's Lead Flat analyst David Johnson says: "Jim Goldie has shown time and again that he’s a dab hand at improving older handicappers, and though Montezuma is currently a maiden, it will be a shock if he doesn’t win a race or two in 2026. He shaped well on several occasions when making the frame in handicaps as a three-year-old despite still looking raw. With a winter under his belt, he’s fancied to fulfil his potential this time around."
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