Barryroe Madam

That single career win came at Listowel on 31 May 2025, and it remains the solitary high point of the record. Listowel is a track with genuine character — a small, tight Irish track where local knowledge and a willing horse can count for plenty — so getting off the mark there carries a certain charm. It just hasn't happened since, and the last six races have produced a sequence that reads –-13-13-11-3-7: a string of mid-field and back-of-the-field finishes, with one third place offering a faint flicker of promise before the form dipped again.

Richard Deegan has been the regular partner, riding her in seven of those races together without a win between them. That's not necessarily a criticism of either horse or jockey — sometimes a combination just hasn't clicked yet, or the opportunities haven't fallen right. Terence O'Brien, who trains Barryroe Madam out of Carrigtoohill in County Cork, has had ten winners on the board this season, so the yard is clearly capable. Whether Barryroe Madam can add to that tally is another question.

She raced just one day ago, which makes her one of the busier campaigners around at the moment. Horses that race frequently can sometimes find their moment when conditions or competition fall just right — and occasionally a horse that has been around the block as many times as this one will produce a surprise on a day when everything clicks. For now, though, Barryroe Madam is the kind of horse whose story is about persistence as much as triumph.