Bhean Saibhre

The most telling part of Bhean Saibhre's record is what happens over longer trips. In races run over two miles or more, the horse has won 1 from 7 — that's about 1 in 7, or 14% — which is a meaningfully better return than the overall career figures suggest. Distance, it seems, is the key. The further the race goes, the more interested Bhean Saibhre becomes, and that Ballinrobe win over a long trip fits the pattern neatly.

The recent form makes for genuinely encouraging reading. The last six runs read as two falls or unfinished runs, then a pair of third places, a pair of fourth places — and then that win. In other words, Bhean Saibhre has been knocking on the door, finishing in the places consistently before finally getting the reward. That is the shape of a horse finding its stride rather than fading away. Raced just one day ago, this is a horse very much in the thick of things right now.

Jack Cleary has been the regular partner, riding in 6 of the horse's races together without a win between them — though given the overall record, that is hardly a damning indictment of either horse or jockey. The yard is trained by Aidan Anthony Howard at Curragh in Co Kildare, a team that has sent out two winners this season. It is a modest tally, but Bhean Saibhre accounts for one of them, which means this horse is currently carrying a fair share of the yard's good news. For a horse that went so long without winning, that is a pleasant position to be in.