Al Arrivee

Her recent form makes for excellent reading: 1-4-2-1-2 across her last five outings, with wins at Sligo in June 2025 and most recently at Punchestown just this week. Back-to-back victories, bookending a spell that included three placed efforts — this is a horse right at the top of her game and, crucially, still racing. The Punchestown win is significant in itself; it's one of Ireland's most prestigious venues, and winning there suggests she's operating at a level above the ordinary.

The team behind her is about as strong as it gets. Trainer Willie Mullins, based at Muine Bheag in County Carlow, has sent out 215 winners already this season — a quite staggering number that puts his yard in a different league entirely. When Mullins speaks about a horse, people listen, and he has described Al Arrivee in warm terms, pointing to her family background as a reason for genuine excitement. She is a half-sister to Al Boum Photo, the horse who won back-to-back Cheltenham Gold Cups in 2019 and 2020 — arguably the most famous jumping prize in the world. That bloodline alone tells you there is real quality running through her.

Mullins has also been deliberately patient with her, making clear he won't rush her development. His plan is to aim her at a top-level race for mares — the kind of target that only gets discussed when a trainer genuinely believes a horse is capable of competing at the highest level. The fact that he's already pencilling in a race at the Dublin Racing Festival, one of the most important fixtures on the Irish calendar, tells you everything about how highly she's regarded. Five races in, Al Arrivee looks like a horse with serious unfinished business.