What is striking about his recent form is the sequence. Reading his last six runs from most recent backwards — 6, 5, a blank, then 1, 4, 2 — you can see a horse that peaked with that February win and has since drifted back towards the midfield. Racing just one day ago, he is clearly in a busy spell, and the yard will be hoping the rust from that mid-season break doesn't linger too long.
Shane Foley has been his regular partner, sitting aboard for six of his ten races, but that combination is yet to click in the winner's enclosure — zero wins from six rides together. That is not necessarily a damning stat; plenty of horses find their moment with a familiar jockey, and Foley's experience means he knows this horse better than most. The win came, notably, without needing to change that partnership.
Behind the horse stands a yard with serious firepower. Trained by Mrs John Harrington out of Moone in County Kildare, Ben Lawers is part of an operation that has sent out 51 winners already this season — that is the kind of volume that suggests a trainer who knows exactly where and when to place a horse to give it the best chance. Getting Ben Lawers to that Dundalk win was no accident; it was almost certainly a calculated placement, and the fact it came at that particular track is worth remembering if he heads back there.
Ben Lawers is not a headline act — not yet, anyway. But a horse that places nearly half the time, has cracked a winner, and trains with one of Ireland's more productive yards has the foundations to build on. Whether he can string together a better sequence than that patchy recent form is the question worth watching.
| Course | Races | Results | Last visited | Win rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dundalk Galloping |
5 | 1 win, 1 second, 3 other | 20 Mar | 20% |
| Gowran Park Undulating |
2 | 1 third, 1 other | 2 Jun | 0% |
| Lingfield Park Sharp |
1 | 1 other | 3 Apr | 0% |
| Killarney Sharp |
1 | 1 other | 22 Aug | 0% |
| Leopardstown Galloping |
1 | 1 third | 7 Aug | 0% |