Lady Lilac

Her recent form reads 7––5–6–1–2, working backwards from her latest run yesterday. That's a mixed picture — a couple of mid-pack finishes and a pulled-up run alongside that win and a runner-up spot — but she has raced just one day ago, which means she is very much in the thick of her season right now. Trainers don't keep running horses this frequently unless they believe the horse is in good shape and a race is there to be won.

Gary Carroll is her most regular partner in the saddle, and together they have a strong record — one win from five races, which means they strike at roughly 1 in every 5 outings together. That's a meaningful ratio for a horse who only wins about 1 in every 13 races overall, so Carroll clearly brings something out of her. When those two combine, it is worth paying attention.

She is trained by Joseph G Murphy out of Fethard in County Tipperary, and the yard has been in fine form this season with 19 winners already. A trainer sending out that kind of volume doesn't have horses ticking over for the sake of it — Lady Lilac is presumably being targeted carefully, and a trainer with a full and firing yard has the confidence and the options to place a horse exactly where they want her. With a win on the board at Killarney and Carroll available to ride, she is the kind of horse who could easily add to that tally before the season is out.