Harry Des Ongrais

The most recent win came at Gowran Park in February 2025, which is now 17 months ago and counting. Since then, Harry Des Ongrais has gone six races without adding to that tally, and the last few runs have been patchy — finishing 9th, 7th, and 11th in the three completed efforts we can see. That is not the form of a horse currently firing on all cylinders, and it raises a fair question about what the team at Margaret Mullins's yard in Goresbridge, Co. Kilkenny are looking for to get the best out of him again.

Mullins's yard has sent out 6 winners this season, so the operation is clearly functioning well enough — Harry Des Ongrais just hasn't been among the contributors lately. Rachael Blackmore, one of the most celebrated jump jockeys in the sport, has partnered him in 8 of his 17 races and ridden him to 1 of those wins — the same 1-in-8 ratio that defines his whole career. Even with a rider of that calibre aboard, the victories haven't come regularly. He raced just one day ago, so whatever the team are trying, they are trying it actively and haven't given up on finding the right opportunity.

His first win came at Wexford back in October 2022, which now feels like a different chapter entirely. For a nine-year-old with two career wins, the picture is of a horse that competes reliably at a certain level without quite threatening to take over at it. He's not a headline act, but he's not a no-hoper either — somewhere in the middle, which in racing is actually where most horses live out their careers, chasing the right race on the right day.