Irish Champ

Trained by S R B Crawford out of Larne in Co Antrim, Irish Champ ran just yesterday and is clearly a horse being kept busy right now. Crawford's yard has sent out 12 winners already this season, so this is an operation that knows how to get horses winning — which makes it all the more interesting that Irish Champ keeps knocking on the door without quite breaking through. The recent form reads 2-7-2-3-4, and that second place most recently will give the team something to work with. A placing that recent suggests the horse is fit and running well enough — it just needs everything to click at the right moment.

Whether that moment comes soon is the question. Horses that place consistently without winning can sometimes find a race that suits them perfectly and finally get off the mark — or they can carry on finishing just behind the winner indefinitely. Irish Champ is at a crossroads that any racing fan would find familiar: talented enough to be competitive, not yet ruthless enough to win.