Lesley's Boy

The Fahey yard is a busy, productive operation — 23 winners sent out already this season — so Lesley's Boy is competing in good company just by being part of that setup. His most regular partner in the saddle is Oisin Orr, and together they've built a genuinely strong partnership: 2 wins from 8 races together, a win rate of 25%, or roughly 1 in every 4 rides. That's significantly better than Lesley's Boy's overall record, which strongly suggests Orr brings something out of this horse that others haven't managed to find.

His ground preference is worth noting. On normal conditions, Lesley's Boy has won 2 of his 7 races — that's 29%, or nearly 1 in every 3, which is a striking number for a horse whose overall record is far more modest. Get him on the right surface and he becomes a different proposition. His two career wins came at Wetherby in June 2024 and Ripon in August 2024 — a nice little summer run that, frustratingly, he hasn't been able to repeat. The Ripon win was now over 22 months ago, and his last 6 races have produced no wins at all, with a best finish of third. The recent form — eighth, fifth, sixteenth, third, sixth, fourth — is patchy, and that sixteenth is the kind of run that suggests something wasn't right on the day.

He races most often at Class 4 level, which is firmly mid-tier racing, and has won 1 from 7 at that level. He raced just yesterday, so he's currently very much in action. At four years old, there's still time for another moment like that summer of 2024 — and if Orr is aboard on normal ground, it would be unwise to completely write him off.