Better Days Ahead

The career numbers are quietly impressive. Five wins and 12 places from just 16 races — that means Better Days Ahead has finished in the top three in almost every race it has ever entered. A 31% win rate translates to roughly 1 win in every 3 races, which is a genuinely strong record for any horse at this level. The career earnings sit behind a Class 2 win at Cheltenham in March 2024, which is one of the top races in Britain and effectively racing's most famous stage. Winning there puts a horse in select company.

The partnership with Jack Kennedy is worth noting. Together they have won 2 of their 5 races — that's 40%, or roughly 2 in every 5 times they line up together. Kennedy is one of the most celebrated jump jockeys in Ireland, so when he takes the ride, it tends to mean the yard expects a bold showing. Better Days Ahead is trained by Gordon Elliott at Longwood in County Meath, and this season that operation has sent out an extraordinary 209 winners — one of the most powerful training yards in the sport. A horse coming out of that setup is always taken seriously.

Fairyhouse is where Better Days Ahead seems most at home, winning 2 of just 3 races there. That kind of course record — two wins from three visits — is the sort of thing shrewd racegoers notice immediately. It isn't a coincidence; it's a pattern. The horse first showed what it was capable of there back in December 2022, and it has never forgotten how to win around that track.

Recent form reads 2-2-6-3-1-2 across the last six races. Aside from one poor run, this is a horse that is consistently in the finish — placed in five of those six outings. The last win came at Navan in February 2025, and with a run 29 days ago keeping the horse race-fit, the ingredients are all there for another big day.