The recent form tells a more encouraging story than the overall record might suggest. In the last six races, Echinacea has put together two second-place finishes and a fourth, showing the horse is running consistently and racing competitively rather than trailing in at the back of the field. Raced just yesterday, this is a horse very much in the thick of things at the moment.
Robbie Colgan has been the regular partner, riding Echinacea in five of those races without a win to show for it — though again, the pair have clearly been placing rather than disappearing. Trainer Noel C Kelly operates out of Draperstown in County Derry and has had a productive season, sending out 14 winners. Kelly clearly knows how to get horses ready to run — the challenge with Echinacea is finding the right opportunity to turn those near-misses into a breakthrough.
The question hanging over Echinacea is a simple one: can the horse finally find a race where everything clicks? Six placed finishes from 16 races is not the record of a no-hoper — it's the record of a horse that competes, that shows up, but hasn't yet had its moment. For Kelly and Colgan, the job is finding the right spot where Echinacea can stop being the bridesmaid.
| Course | Races | Results | Last visited | Win rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dundalk Galloping |
6 | 4 seconds, 2 other | 1 Apr | 0% |
| Leopardstown Galloping |
2 | 2 other | 5 Jun | 0% |
| Downpatrick Undulating |
2 | 2 other | 22 May | 0% |
| The Curragh Galloping |
1 | 1 other | 16 Mar | 0% |
| Punchestown Galloping |
1 | 1 second | 16 Sep | 0% |
| Sligo Sharp |
1 | 1 third | 6 Aug | 0% |
| Navan Galloping |
1 | 1 other | 28 Aug | 0% |
| Gowran Park Undulating |
1 | 1 other | 23 Apr | 0% |
| Limerick Galloping |
1 | 1 other | 12 Jul | 0% |