Ottoman Style

The most telling number in his profile is this: two wins from three races on very wet, heavy ground. That is a 67% win rate when the mud is flying, which is extraordinary. Most horses tolerate conditions rather than thrive in them — Ottoman Style actively improves when the going gets difficult. His last win came at Down Royal on St Patrick's Day 2023, 39 months ago now, and jockey Conor Maxwell described it in a way that suggests a horse who needed patience and space to show what he could do: when asked to lengthen, he lengthened. That is a simple observation, but it speaks to a horse who does things on his own terms.

Maxwell is clearly the pilot who understands him best. In five races together they have won twice — that is 2 from 5, or 40%, which is a remarkable partnership rate and well above anything Ottoman Style achieves with other riders. The early promise was obvious too. At his debut point-to-point at Borris House, he won easily, and McLoughlin noted at the time that he was a half-brother to Brahma Bull, a chaser rated 154, and that he worked like a stayer with impeccable jumping. Thomas Reilly, riding him at Downpatrick for his first career win under rules in May 2022, said the horse "just stays galloping" — which is about the best thing you can say about any racehorse that competes over distance.

The frustration is that he has not won in his last six races, and at the better level — Class 4, which represents a step up in quality — he has gone 0 from 3. He raced just yesterday, so the team clearly still believe there is a performance in him. Whether that performance comes depends, more than for most horses, on what the weather does beforehand.