Mirsky

The horse absolutely loves Thirsk, winning two of his four races there. More tellingly, he has a real affinity for fast, dry ground, winning one race in every five when conditions suit him compared to barely scraping a win in ten overall. O'Meara recognised early on that Mirsky was capable of top-level racing—he has contested Class 2 races, the sort where the best horses in the country compete—but those contests have been a struggle, yielding just one win from 12 attempts. His breakthrough came in May this year at Thirsk, where jockey Mark Winn steered him home. Winn noted afterwards that the horse had travelled too well into the race, arriving at the front earlier than ideal, but Mirsky proved willing and kept fighting to the line. Less than a month later, the horse delivered something far more significant: a win at Epsom in a Class 2 race, the kind of victory that announced genuine ability at the top end.

What makes Mirsky interesting now is that those two wins in quick succession—at Thirsk and then Epsom—suggest O'Meara has finally found the formula after watching the horse run creditably without winning for months beforehand. The trainer described him as a good early summer horse, one who comes to hand quickly as the season progresses, and that pattern held true when Mirsky struck again at Thirsk on 2 May. However, his form has since gone flat. He has not won in his last six races, most recently running unplaced eleven days ago. That makes him a horse with genuine quality on the right day but one whose inconsistency remains a puzzle—a reminder that even horses trained by yards sending out 101 winners a season do not always find their rhythm.