Lord Church

That Curragh win, just six weeks after a first career victory at Limerick in May 2024, suggested a horse hitting its stride and building momentum through the summer. Since then, though, Lord Church has gone six races without adding to the tally, with recent finishes of third, seventh, ninth, seventh and sixth telling the story of a horse that flickers without catching fire. There is no disgrace in those runs — a third place is in there — but the wins have dried up, and Lord Church now returns from a break of roughly five months, which adds an extra layer of uncertainty heading into its next appearance.

The conditional good news is found in the partnership with jockey Ronan Whelan. Together they have won 3 of their 7 races — that is a win rate of 43%, or nearly 3 in every 7 rides. For context, that is a remarkable number; most successful horse-and-jockey partnerships would be delighted with half that. When Whelan is in the saddle, Lord Church clearly operates at a different level. The trainer, Emmet Mullins, has been in fine form this season with 31 winners sent out from his yard, so the platform is there.

On ground conditions, Lord Church shows a clear preference for normal going, winning 2 of 5 races on a standard surface — a 40% win rate that is genuinely strong. It also favours distances in the range of a mile and a furlong to a mile and two furlongs, again winning 2 from 5 at those trips. When the conditions line up — standard ground, the right distance, Whelan on board — this is a horse that has shown it can win. The question after a long absence is simply whether it comes back ready to remind everyone of that.