Dragon Of Malta

At nine years old and with 38 races behind it, this is a horse that has earned its living the hard way. Four wins and 12 places from 38 races — winning about 1 in every 10 — would not set the world alight on paper, but that overall number hides a horse that is sharply in form right now. Two wins from its last 6 races is a sudden resurgence from an animal most racegoers would write off as a plodder at this stage of a career. The most recent form figures read 13-8-15-3-1-1, which translates as: two wins back-to-back, sandwiched between some forgettable efforts. This is a horse that goes through flat spells and then lights up.

Colin Keane, one of Ireland's best jockeys, has ridden it five times for one win together — a 20% win rate, or 1 in 5, which is actually a solid return. The yard, trained by P F O'Donnell, has sent out 3 winners this season, so this is not a large operation churning out big-name horses. Finding winners at all is an achievement, and Dragon Of Malta clearly carries a good share of the yard's hopes.

The horse raced just yesterday and is very much in active campaigning. Its last win came at Listowel in September 2025, eight months ago — and given that the Festival there comes around again each autumn, it would be no surprise at all if the yard have that week circled on the calendar. A horse that finds its best form in the mud, over seven furlongs to a mile, at a specific Irish track, almost always in late September — at nine years old, it may have figured out exactly who it is.