Desert Friend

Trained by P J F Murphy out of Castlecomer in County Kilkenny, the yard has been in decent form this season with four winners already sent out. Murphy is clearly not a trainer who overpromises, and Desert Friend fits the profile of a horse that is placed with care and asked to do a job it can realistically do. Ben Coen is the jockey most associated with the horse, though their partnership of 1 win from 8 races together — roughly 1 in 8 — has not been especially fruitful. That said, Coen clearly knows the horse, which counts for something.

What makes Desert Friend's recent form genuinely interesting is that win at Sligo just two months ago. A 10-year-old horse winning a race is not the rarity it might sound, but it does mean this is not a horse winding down quietly into retirement. It raced again just yesterday, which is about as active as it gets. Look at the last six runs in order — a third, a win, then ninth, first, twelfth, and fourth — and there is clearly a horse capable of putting in a real performance on its day, even if the results either side of those wins can be frustrating. That kind of inconsistency is typical of a horse operating at a competitive level where margins are tight.

First winning at Listowel back in June 2022, Desert Friend has taken four years to build a five-win career, which tells you this is a horse that earns everything the hard way. There is nothing flashy about the profile, but there is something quietly admirable about a 10-year-old still racing, still winning, and still in work. The Sligo win, recent as it is, means Desert Friend is not a name to dismiss lightly when the conditions line up.