Church Mountain

Trained by Denis Gerard Hogan out of Cloughjordan in County Tipperary, Church Mountain operates within one of the more productive yards in the game right now — 58 winners sent out this season alone. Hogan clearly knows what he has here: a consistent, durable performer that earns its keep. The partnership with jockey J M Sheridan has been the most significant of the horse's career, producing 4 of those 7 wins from 32 races together, a win rate of 12% — exactly matching the horse's overall average, which suggests the combination works smoothly without any particular magic or friction.

Where Church Mountain genuinely shines is when the conditions align. On normal ground, it wins at 18% — 4 wins from 22 races, or nearly 1 in every 5. That might sound modest until you consider that its overall rate is 1 in 8. Better ground simply brings out a better horse. Add in its preferred trip of a mile and three or four furlongs — 3 wins from 16 races at 19% — and you start to see a horse that has a very clear profile of what it needs to perform.

The course record at Limerick is the most striking stat of all: 2 wins from just 4 races there. Winning half your races at any track is the kind of figure that makes trainers circle it on the calendar. The first of those Limerick wins came back in June 2022, when Church Mountain announced itself, and the track has clearly suited ever since. The most recent victory came at Dundalk in January 2026 — just two months ago — so this is not a horse living on past glories. It hasn't won in its last 6 races, with recent form reading a mix of mid-field finishes and a third place, but given it raced only yesterday, the yard will simply be waiting for the right conditions and the right track to come around again.