Bye Bye Now

The recent form figures — 4, 1, 4, 4, 6 — tell a story of steady improvement from the back of the field towards the front. The sixth and two fourth-place finishes suggest Bye Bye Now was competitive without quite getting there, and then the runner-up slot just before the win hints at a horse warming up nicely. When the win came at Dundalk, it felt like a logical next step rather than a surprise.

Dundalk is worth noting here. It is Ireland's only all-weather track, an indoor oval that runs year-round under floodlights — a very different environment from a typical grass racecourse. Some horses take to it naturally and return to it again and again; others never quite get comfortable. The fact that Bye Bye Now got off the mark there suggests it may well be a track to follow the horse back to.

Behind the scenes, Bye Bye Now is trained by John C McConnell, based at Stamullen in County Meath. McConnell's yard has sent out 44 winners this season alone — a volume that reflects a well-run, busy operation rather than a small stable taking the occasional shot. When a yard is firing out winners at that rate, they tend to know when a horse is ready, and putting Bye Bye Now in position to win at Dundalk last week suggests they had been patient and waiting for the right moment.

With only five races on the clock, Bye Bye Now is still a relatively unexplored quantity, and that is part of what makes the next few runs interesting. A 4-year-old with a win under its belt, trained by a yard in fine form, racing on a surface it has already proven it can handle — the foundations are there for more to follow.