Floresta

The recent form makes for interesting reading: reading from left to right through the last six runs, you see a 4, a 3, two wins sandwiched around a runner-up, and then a fifth last time out. That means Floresta won back-to-back races in the middle of last summer — first at Limerick in July 2025, then at Leopardstown in August — before finishing fifth on its most recent outing. Leopardstown is one of Ireland's premier tracks, so winning there is no small thing. It's the kind of course where good horses tend to shine, and Floresta delivered when it mattered.

The big question hanging over this profile is the gap. That last race was 199 days ago — roughly six and a half months — which means Floresta is coming back from a significant break. That's not unusual for a three-year-old being managed carefully through their development, but it does mean there are unknowns. Has the horse come back in good shape? Will it need a run to find its rhythm again? These are things only the trainer and the yard will know for certain.

Speaking of the trainer: JP Murtagh, based in Co Kildare, has sent out 56 winners this season, which tells you this is a busy and productive yard. That kind of output doesn't happen by accident — it reflects a team that knows how to place horses in the right races and get them ready to run well. If Floresta is being pointed at a specific target after this break, the people making that call have a strong track record of getting these things right.