Pray Tell

The numbers that really stand out are on soft or muddy ground. In those conditions, Pray Tell has won 2 of just 5 races — a 40% win rate, which is extraordinary. To put that in perspective, even the very best racehorses in the world rarely win 4 in every 10 races they enter. When the heavens open and the ground gets heavy, this horse transforms into something considerably more dangerous than its overall record suggests.

The partnership with jockey John Shinnick is worth noting too. Across 11 races together, they have won twice — winning roughly 1 in every 5 times they team up, which is a noticeably better return than Pray Tell's overall record. That kind of consistency with one rider usually means there is a real understanding there, a partnership that gets the best out of a horse.

The timeline of wins tells an interesting story. Pray Tell landed its first career victory at Kilbeggan in September 2024, then followed up at Cork in December 2024 — a productive few months. But that Cork win, now 20 months ago, remains the most recent success, and the last 6 races have brought a second place and then a string of quieter finishes, with a blank run in there too. The recent form reads 5th, 2nd, 11th, 6th, 4th, and then unplaced — form that drifts rather than builds. At 10 years old, Pray Tell is not a young horse finding its feet; it is an experienced campaigner that has shown it can win at this level but has not been able to rediscover that spark lately.

Raced just yesterday and still active, Pray Tell remains in training and in the mix. The team will know what they have: a horse that, on the right day with rain in the forecast, is capable of making plenty of people look very silly indeed.