Ocastle Des Mottes

The recent form figures tell a complicated story. That "2" sitting in the middle of the sequence represents a second-place finish, and it is arguably the most important number on the page. A horse that has never won but keeps finishing in the top few tells you it belongs at this level — it just hasn't found the right moment to cross the line first. Crucially, Mullins himself has admitted the horse had been something of a puzzle, performing better at home on the gallops than it was showing on the track. That gap between home work and race-day results is one of the more frustrating things in sport, but Mullins noted a significant change after a run at Punchestown behind Ballyburn — a horse who carries serious reputation — suggesting the penny may finally be dropping now that it has switched to racing over fences.

There is also important context around its early days in Britain. When jockey Daryl Jacob rode the horse at Newbury, he was clear-eyed about what he had seen: the horse travelled with real confidence before fading late on, but this was its first race outside France, in a very competitive field, against horses already accustomed to the British style of racing. That is a significant ask. Jacob's verdict — that it would adapt and "hopefully be a very nice horse" — carries weight when it comes from someone sitting in the saddle.

Eight races without a win would normally be a cause for concern, and it would be dishonest to pretend the record is encouraging on paper. But context matters enormously here. This is a horse still finding its feet in a new country, trained by a man who wins roughly two in every five races his yard enters, and whose home performances have long promised more than the track has yet delivered. The question is not whether Ocastle Des Mottes can win — Mullins clearly believes it can — but simply when.