Path d'Oroux

That October win at Cheltenham was his first success over fences since April 2022, when he broke his maiden at Punchestown. For more than two years between those victories, he was a nearly horse — running consistently enough to place regularly but rarely converting those efforts into wins. His partnership with jockey Keith Donoghue tells part of that story: they have ridden together 21 times, and while Donoghue has won on him 3 times (roughly 1 in 7), there have been plenty of near-misses. The breakthrough matters partly because it suggests the horse can still compete at a decent level. Trained by Gavin Cromwell at Navan, Path d'Oroux has found his sweet spot at distances between a mile and six furlongs and two miles, where he has won 2 of his 8 races — a respectable 25 percent win rate.

Yet the form line since that Cheltenham victory in October has been patchy. His last six races have produced no wins, though he did finish third recently. At Class 1 level — the top tier — he remains winless from four attempts, which is a clear ceiling. Cromwell has mapped out a plan to target races for horses ready to step up but not yet established at the highest level, including a graduation race at Carlisle where Path d'Oroux was third last year. The trainer describes him as consistent and laid-back, a horse that picks up experience more readily than headlines. That assessment fits a nine-year-old who has been around long enough to know what winning feels like, even if it does not come around very often.