Absurde

Those two Class 1 victories are worth dwelling on. Cheltenham in March 2024 is one of the most famous racecourses in the world, a place where reputations are made and favourites are regularly humbled. Absurde won there. Then, five months later, came another top-level win at Chester. Two of the most demanding tracks in Britain, two wins, in the same calendar year. At the Class 1 level specifically, the record reads 2 wins from 5 races — that is 40%, or winning 2 in every 5 attempts against the very best. That is a remarkable number.

Trained by W P Mullins out of Muine Bheag in County Carlow, Absurde operates within one of the most successful yards in the sport right now. Mullins has sent out 237 winners this season alone — a number that sounds almost fictional — so any horse that stands out within that operation has earned its place. Absurde has done exactly that, winning at Class 2 level at Plumpton as recently as April 2025, which suggests it remains competitive and well-placed by the team.

The recent form does carry a slight caveat. Those last six runs read 20th, a non-finish, third, second, third, and a win — so it has been placed regularly without always winning, and the 20th-place finish is an obvious outlier worth noting. But horses at this level are not machines, and a career record of 5 wins and 10 places from 16 races — meaning Absurde has finished in the top positions in 15 of 16 outings — suggests a thoroughly consistent animal that rarely runs a bad race. At 8 years old and still active, with a yard firing on all cylinders behind it, Absurde looks like a horse with unfinished business.