Birdie Or Bust

Those two recent wins tell an interesting story on their own. The first career victory came at Tipperary in May 2023, which is where the story began. The most recent came at Listowel in September 2025 — and the fact that Birdie Or Bust has won twice in its last six outings, finishing 1st, 4th, 7th, 1st in that rolling stretch, shows a horse that can mix the odd below-par run with genuine winning form. The 7th-place finish sits a little awkwardly in there, but horses are not machines, and two wins out of six is a healthy ratio by any measure.

The ground matters here. On wet or muddy ground, Birdie Or Bust has won 2 of just 3 races — that is a 67% win rate, which is extraordinary. To put it simply: when the ground is soft, this horse is transformed. That kind of surface preference is not a minor detail; it is probably the single most important factor in deciding whether to follow it.

Rachael Blackmore, one of the most celebrated jump jockeys in the world, has been the regular partner — 7 rides together, 2 wins, which works out at winning roughly 1 in every 3.5 races. That is a strong combination worth tracking. The trainer, Henry De Bromhead, runs one of the most powerful yards in Ireland out of Knockeen in County Waterford, and this season alone has sent out 106 winners — so Birdie Or Bust is coming from a team that clearly knows what it is doing.

The one thing to factor in is the break. Birdie Or Bust has not raced in roughly five months, so there will be some question about how sharp it returns. But with soft ground in the forecast, Blackmore in the saddle, and De Bromhead in the corner, this is precisely the sort of horse worth keeping an eye on as the season unfolds.