Admiral Will Brown

The road to that win was a patient one. Before Navan, Admiral Will Brown had finished toward the back of the field in four consecutive races, including three seventh-place finishes and an eighth. Those are not the kind of numbers that set pulses racing, but they tell a story of a horse still learning the job. The breakthrough, when it came, was clean — a proper win rather than a narrow scrape.

Across five races, he has won 1 and placed once, giving him a 20% win rate — that's 1 win from every 5 races, which is a respectable return once a horse has found its stride. The key question now is whether Navan was a turning point or a one-off. McLoughlin's yard has sent out 9 winners this season, which suggests a team in decent form and capable of placing a horse correctly — finding the right race at the right time is half the battle at this level.

At three years old, Admiral Will Brown is still a young horse figuring things out. Many horses at this age need time before the penny drops, and there is at least a reasonable case that it just has. Racing just yesterday, he is clearly in an active campaign, and if McLoughlin can build on this week's confidence boost, the horse's best days could still be ahead of him.