Lisnamult Lad

His win rate tells an interesting story depending on the ground beneath his feet. On normal conditions, he has won 4 from 13 races — nearly 1 in every 3 — which is a significant number. It suggests he is at his best when the track rides as expected rather than soft or firm, and it is the kind of detail that matters when deciding whether to follow him. When he has stepped up to Class 2 races — among the best in Britain — he has not yet converted, going 0 from 3, but simply getting a horse to that level is an achievement in itself.

His last win came at Cheltenham in October 2024, and it is worth sitting with the detail of how that came about. Trainer Ian Donoghue had been irritated that Lisnamult Lad was being asked to carry 10lb more in Britain than he would have at home in Ireland, and he rang the English handicapper to say so. He did not get the weight reduced — but he ran anyway, and won. That willingness to take on the system and come out ahead says something about both horse and trainer. Donoghue's yard has sent out 29 winners already this season, so this is not an operation that relies on luck.

The horse's partnership with jockey Ben Harvey is worth noting too. In 6 races together, Harvey has ridden him to 3 wins — 50%, or 1 in every 2 races. That is an exceptional figure and suggests a genuine understanding between the two. Harvey himself described Lisnamult Lad after a near-miss at Aintree with real warmth: it took him a few fences to trust the horse fully, but once he did, he was accurate, measured, and brave — only beaten, Harvey felt, by a better horse on the day. He said he was gutted it did not come off, but that the horse could come back. Lisnamult Lad raced just yesterday, so that spirit is clearly still very much alive.