Mighty Tom

The last victory arrived at Killarney in May 2023, which is now 37 months ago and counting. That's a long time between wins, and his recent run of form — finishing 7th, 2nd, 5th, 2nd, 5th, and 4th across his last six races — shows a horse that keeps knocking on the door without quite pushing it open. Two runner-up finishes in that stretch suggest he's not falling apart, just finding one or two too good on the day. At his age, that's actually a decent effort.

Where Mighty Tom genuinely earns attention is on wet or muddy ground. From 6 races in those conditions, he's won twice — a win rate of 33%, or 1 in every 3 attempts. That's dramatically better than his overall record and it matters enormously when reading his chances. A soft-ground horse in Ireland has no shortage of opportunities, and when the rain comes, Mighty Tom becomes a very different proposition. Both his career wins have come in those conditions, which is not a coincidence.

He's trained by Cian Collins at a yard based in Navan, Co Meath, and the team has had a productive season with 20 winners already sent out. Collins is clearly operating a busy, competitive yard, and the fact that Mighty Tom is still in training at 11 — and raced just one day ago — says something about how the horse has held together physically. Plenty of horses this age have long since retired. Mighty Tom hasn't read that script.

The first win came at Thurles back in December 2021, and the second at Killarney in the spring of 2023. Two wins from 17 races is a career that tells you this isn't a star, but that misses the point slightly. Mighty Tom is a dependable, durable competitor who has found a level where he belongs — and on the right ground, on the right day, he's shown he can still win.