Louie's Folly

The recent form makes for interesting reading. That second place a few runs back is the bright spot — proof that Louie's Folly can get close when things fall right. The last six races (reading newest to oldest: 8th, 6th, 5th, 2nd, 4th, 4th) show a horse that was getting closer to the action for a spell before drifting back a little. The most recent outing, just yesterday, produced an eighth-place finish — not the direction you want the form line heading.

Louie's Folly competes in Class 5 races, which is the entry level of the sport — these are the races where horses who haven't shown top-tier ability go to find their level and, hopefully, a win. Four races at that level, zero wins. For a horse that has now had 13 chances overall, breaking through even at this tier is starting to feel like a genuine puzzle for the team to solve.

The trainer is Denis Gerard Hogan, operating out of Cloughjordan in County Tipperary, and his yard has been in excellent form this season with 54 winners sent out — so this is clearly not a stable short on knowhow. The fact that Hogan keeps running Louie's Folly suggests he believes there is a win in the horse somewhere. Trainers don't keep putting horses on the track out of sentiment — there has to be a reason for the optimism, even if the results haven't yet backed it up. Whether Louie's Folly can finally convert that promise into a victory is the question that the next few races will have to answer.