Marelly

Start with the ground. On wet, muddy conditions, Marelly has won 3 of just 9 races — that's a 33% win rate, or 1 in every 3. That is a remarkable transformation. Most horses show a mild preference for one type of surface; Marelly essentially becomes a different animal when the ground gets heavy. The difference between this horse in dry conditions and this horse splashing through mud is night and day.

Then there is Gowran Park, a track in County Kilkenny where Marelly has won 2 of just 3 races. Winning 2 from 3 at any track is the kind of record that makes trainers circle dates on calendars. The first win there came in November 2022, and the most recent was as recently as January 2026 — just two months ago — so this is not a fading affinity but a live and current one. Some horses simply suit a particular track's shape, rhythm, or terrain, and Gowran Park appears to bring out the best in this one.

P J Rothwell trains Marelly from his base in Tinahely, County Wicklow, and it has been a productive season for the yard — 35 winners sent out already. Jockey Tiernan Power Roche takes the ride most often, the pair having teamed up 9 times together for 1 win, winning roughly 1 in every 9 races as a partnership. Recent form reads 2-4-9-3-1-7, with that first-place finish just a few runs ago keeping confidence high. Marelly raced just yesterday, confirming this is a horse very much in the thick of things right now.

The headline numbers — 3 wins from 33 races — do not tell the real story. When the rain has been falling and the track is Gowran Park, Marelly stops looking like a horse with a 9% win rate and starts looking like one of the most likely winners in the field.