Alphecca

Those two wins came in quick succession in early October 2025 — first at Killarney on the 6th, then at Naas on the 12th. Back-to-back wins six days apart suggest a horse that was in the form of its life, sharp and confident and ready to back up. The recent form string of 8-9-7-1-1-3 tells that story clearly: two big, out-of-the-frame finishes at the start, then a placed effort, then two wins, then the sequence reverses again with three consecutive struggles to land a blow.

The partnership with jockey Gary Carroll is one of the more interesting threads here. In 5 races together, Carroll has ridden Alphecca to both wins — a win rate of 40%, or 2 from every 5 rides. That is a notably productive combination, and both wins came with Carroll in the saddle, which is the kind of detail that tends to matter.

Behind the horse is the yard of Joseph G Murphy, based in Fethard, Co Tipperary. Murphy's team has sent out 19 winners this season, which marks them out as a busy, productive operation rather than a small string making up the numbers. A trainer with that kind of output knows how to place a horse — and the fact that Alphecca won twice in a week suggests Murphy found exactly the right opportunities at the right moment.

The horse raced as recently as yesterday, so this is very much a live, active story. The last win was seven months ago now, and the three runs since have not threatened to add a third, but that October purple patch proved this horse can find the line when conditions are right. Whether it can rediscover that form is the question worth watching.