Cullenwaine

Look at those last six runs: a win, a fourth, a fifth, a second, another second, and before that a tenth. Ignore that last result for a moment and you have a horse that has placed in five of its six most recent races, including winning at Killarney just this week. That is a horse in form, plain and simple. When a horse strings together multiple top-two finishes, it tells you everything is clicking — the training is working, the horse is well, and it's ready to compete.

Cullenwaine took a long time to get off the mark. The first career win didn't arrive until June 2024 at Downpatrick, which means the horse raced for several years before tasting victory. For context, that's the kind of patience most people wouldn't associate with a sport that moves as fast as racing. Then came the Killarney win this week — only the third win of a 40-race career, but timed beautifully given how well the horse has been running lately.

Regular jockey Simon Torrens has been on board for 12 of those 40 races together, winning once — the same 1-in-13 ratio that the career record suggests. That consistency between horse and rider matters more than it might seem. A jockey who knows a horse's quirks, how it jumps, when to ask for an effort, is genuinely worth something, and Torrens clearly knows this one well. With Cullenwaine having raced just yesterday and sitting on a fresh win, this is a horse worth keeping a close eye on over the coming weeks.