Back Down Under

The trouble is consistency. In its last six races, the horse has finished fourth, twelfth, fifth, fourth, sixth, and ninth—a run that suggests it is struggling to find the form that produced those two wins. At two wins from twenty-six races overall, Back Down Under wins roughly one in every thirteen attempts, which is modest by any standard. The horse does perform better over middle distances between seven furlongs and a mile, winning one from three at those trip lengths, and Padraig Roche's yard at Coolaghknock Glebe, which has sent out eight winners this season, has kept the horse active. Regular jockey Leigh Roche has ridden Back Down Under eighteen times and won once, reflecting the horse's broader difficulty in finding the winner's circle lately.

Back Down Under was last out just a day ago and is clearly still racing, but the eighteen-month gap since the last win at The Curragh is a long drought. This is a horse that has shown it can win on its day, particularly at its favoured track, but it has not been able to repeat that trick with any real frequency. For now, it remains a course specialist waiting for the next opportunity to show what it can do back at The Curragh.