Follow Me

The first of those Curragh wins came on 21 April 2024, and the second followed just over a month later on 25 May. That second win, in particular, gave O'Sullivan cause to wax lyrical. Chaos unfolded around Follow Me mid-race — horses coming down, gaps closing — and yet the horse found a way through. O'Sullivan described it afterwards as being like watching a horror movie from the stands, three horses down ahead of them and his horse somehow threading the needle. The jockey stayed cool, found the gaps, and got the job done. That kind of performance, in a scramble rather than a procession, tends to tell you something real about a horse's character.

Since that May 2024 win, however, Follow Me has not added to its tally. Six races without a victory, including a disappointing run at Royal Ascot which O'Sullivan put down squarely to the fast, dry ground — conditions that clearly do not suit this horse. He is five years old now, raced just yesterday, and sits on a recent run of form that includes a fourth place as the highlight of the last six outings. The trajectory is not alarming, but it is sobering.

What keeps the optimism alive is the Curragh record. O'Sullivan's yard has been in form this season — 34 winners sent out already — and Follow Me, at his best, is a horse capable of weaving through trouble and still winning. A return to The Curragh, on ground that suits, could see this horse look very different to the one who has been treading water these past 23 months. The track clearly likes him. The question is whether the yard can get him back there in the right conditions before the season runs out.