Dawn Rising

The key to Dawn Rising is distance. Over two miles or more, the horse has won 4 from 17 races — nearly 1 in every 4 — which is a meaningful step up from its overall numbers and suggests this is an athlete that needs time and space to find its best. The biggest moment of its career came at Ascot in June 2023, when it won a top-level Class 2 race. Jockey Ryan Moore told ITV Racing afterwards that trainer Joseph O'Brien had the horse beautifully prepared, and that even at the finish he had not asked for everything — Dawn Rising was simply finding more whenever it was needed. That is the mark of a horse with real quality.

The win at the Curragh in November 2024 offered a reminder of that ability. Jockey Dylan Browne McMonagle reported that the horse came alive from halfway, loved every stride of it, and though it took time to reel in the leader, he always knew he was going to get there. It is a portrait of a horse that travels powerfully and has a genuine will to win when the conditions are right.

Since that Curragh victory — now over 20 months ago — Dawn Rising has not won, and the last six runs read 8th, 7th, and two non-completions among them. It has been a frustrating stretch. O'Brien acknowledged in a stable tour earlier this month that the horse needs to find its form again, but was careful to add that it typically takes a few runs to get going, and that Ascot — the scene of its finest hour — could be where it bounces back. That is the kind of quiet, knowing optimism that comes from a trainer who handled 160 winners this season at his yard in Owning Hill, County Kilkenny. He knows this horse, and he is not panicking.

Dawn Rising may be nine years old and searching for form, but horses with a Class 2 Ascot win on their record rarely become ordinary overnight.