Jade De Grugy

The partnership with jockey Paul Townend tells its own story. In seven races together, they have won five — that is a win rate of 71%, or roughly 5 in every 7 times they race as a pair. For context, that is extraordinary. Townend is one of the best jump jockeys in Ireland and he clearly gets the best out of this horse. Her trainer, Willie Mullins, based at Muine Bheag in Co Carlow, is the dominant force in jump racing right now — his yard has sent out 220 winners already this season, a figure that belongs to a small army, not a single training operation.

Jade De Grugy's finest hour came at Cheltenham, where she chased home Lossiemouth in the Mares' Hurdle — one of the most prestigious races of the festival. She did not win, but finishing second to a horse described by her owner as "a proper horse" is nothing to be embarrassed about. "I thought at one point she might get up," said owner Kenny Alexander. That she pushed a horse of that quality to the wire tells you exactly what level this mare operates at. She then backed it up by winning the Grade 1 at Punchestown, which is the top tier of the sport in Britain and Ireland.

Her record at Punchestown — 2 wins from 4 races — marks her out as a course specialist there, and Mullins has already flagged the Cheltenham Mares' Hurdle as her obvious target again. The trainer has also left open the option of switching her to fences, though that decision appears tied to what stablemate Kargese does — the two horses will deliberately go separate ways to avoid competing with each other.

Most recently she won at Thurles in January, and Mullins was clear that performance came after two runs used to sharpen her up. Her recent form reads 1-3-2-1-2-2 — all finishes inside the top three. She has not run a bad race in months.