He Who Dares

That recent form tells an encouraging story. Go back six races and the picture was patchy — a 16th place finish and a blank in there to forget about — but zoom in on the last couple of runs and you see a horse that finished 1st and 3rd. That kind of upward curve matters. Plenty of horses pick up a win and then drift back into mediocrity, but He Who Dares arrives at this moment having looked better and better with each outing.

He is trained by S Curling, based in Cashel, County Tipperary, and the yard is in fine shape right now — 14 winners sent out already this season, which suggests the horses are in good form and the team knows what it is doing. When a trainer is firing in winners at that kind of rate, it is worth paying attention to anything they run, and He Who Dares has just rewarded that faith by breaking his duck at Wexford. The fact that he raced again just one day after that win confirms the team is happy with him and keen to make the most of the moment while he is clearly on his game.

Whether he can build on it remains to be seen, but a horse who has just won for the first time, trained by a yard in strong form, and racing with obvious freshness and confidence is exactly the kind of profile that catches the eye. He Who Dares, as the name suggests, has finally taken his chance — and it will be interesting to see what he does next.