Redwood Queen

The partnership with jockey Philip Byrnes is the most striking number in her file. Together they have won 5 of their 9 races — that is better than 1 in every 2, a remarkable conversion rate that suggests Byrnes simply gets the best out of her in a way other riders haven't. When a jockey wins more than half their races on a particular horse, that isn't luck; that's a genuine understanding between horse and rider, and it's the kind of stat that would make you sit up if you were watching her in the paddock and saw Byrnes climbing aboard.

Her happiest conditions are normal ground, where she has won 4 of her 14 races at a 29% clip — nearly 1 in 3. That is meaningfully better than her overall record and worth keeping in mind when the ground report comes in. She opened her account at Cartmel in July 2022, and her most recent win came at Killarney in July 2024, a pleasant pattern of summer wins, though it is now 23 months since that last victory and her last 6 races have not produced a win.

Trainer Cian Collins, based in Navan, Co Meath, is having a productive season with 20 winners sent out, so the yard is in form even if Redwood Queen herself hasn't quite clicked into gear lately. Her recent run of results — a fifth, a couple of unplaced efforts, a third — suggests she is knocking on the door without pushing it open. At nine years old, with a career record built on consistency, she is not a horse chasing a big payday. She is a durable, honest competitor who knows her job and does it in a way that has kept her in the game far longer than most.