Robbies Rock

His first win came at Navan in September 2024, a track that happens to be home to his trainer Gavin Cromwell's yard in Co. Meath. Cromwell is having a strong season — 98 winners sent out so far — and Robbies Rock has been one of the more interesting projects in the stable. The trainer has spoken about him as a "very big, raw horse," which in racing terms is a compliment wrapped in a caveat: there's physical potential still to be unlocked, but the horse is still learning his trade. That combination of size, rawness, and genuine ability can be exciting when it all clicks.

What makes Robbies Rock worth watching is the ground he covered at Cheltenham. The Fred Winter is one of the biggest betting races of the entire Festival, and finishing second there — taking what Cromwell called "the brave man's route" and staying on all the way to the line — is a serious result. Plenty of talented horses go to Cheltenham and disappear into the pack. He didn't. That run alone gives him a credibility that his modest career earnings might not immediately suggest.

His best distance is 1 mile 6 furlongs to 2 miles, where he has won 2 from 7 races — nearly 1 in every 3 — which is a noticeably better ratio than elsewhere. Jockey Gary Carroll has partnered him in 8 of his 17 races, winning 2 of them, a win rate of 25%, or roughly 1 in every 4 rides together. That's a productive partnership by any measure. His most recent win came at the Curragh in May 2025, but an injury interrupted his momentum shortly after. Cromwell was targeting a return "in the next few weeks" as of early November, making this a horse to watch as he comes back to action. Given how he finished his last campaign, there's every reason to think he can build on it.