Matt Connor

In his last six races, Matt Connor has won three of them, finishing first, first, fourth, first, twelfth, and fourth reading back from his most recent run. Winning half your races over a six-race stretch is the kind of form that makes people sit up and take notice, and it suggests a horse who has genuinely found his feet rather than one enjoying a lucky streak. His most recent win came at Gowran Park on 8th April 2026, which means he heads into his next race on the back of a confident recent record.

The distance that suits him best appears to be around a mile and three to a mile and four furlongs — think of that as a trip that demands stamina as much as speed, not a sprint but not an endurance test either. At that range, he has won 2 of just 4 races, a 50% win rate that is genuinely impressive. Finding the right distance for a horse can be the difference between a frustrating also-ran and a consistent winner, and Matt Connor looks like a horse whose yard has cracked that particular code.

He is trained by J P Dempsey out of Carbury in County Kildare, and the yard has been in fine fettle this season, sending out 16 winners. That kind of form from a trainer matters — it means the horses are fit, the timing is sharp, and the team knows what it is doing. His most regular partner in the saddle is W J Lee, who has ridden him to 2 wins from 5 races together, a 40% win rate that suggests a real understanding has developed between horse and rider. First career win came at Cork back in April 2023, so this is a horse who has been around long enough to know the job — and right now, he looks like he is enjoying it.