Sandor Clegane

Trained by Paul Nolan out of Enniscorthy in County Wexford — a yard that has been in fine form this season with 23 winners — Sandor Clegane is a nine-year-old with a clear profile. He likes wet, muddy ground, winning 2 of his 9 races on soft going (22%, or roughly 1 in every 4 or 5 outings), which is a noticeably better return than his overall average. When the ground dries out, he tends to find life harder. His most regular partner in the saddle is Sean O'Keeffe, and the pair have won twice together from 16 races — the same 1-in-8 ratio as the horse's career overall, so a steady if unspectacular partnership.

The elephant in the room is that his last win came at Punchestown in April 2023 — now over three years ago. His last six runs have produced nothing better than a sixth-place finish, and his most recent form figures (10th, 15th, 6th, 7th, 7th) are not encouraging. When sent up against the very best in Class 1 races — the top tier of the sport — he has drawn a blank in all three attempts, which suggests his ceiling has been fairly well established at this point.

At nine, with his best days likely behind him, Sandor Clegane is the kind of horse whose story is really about that remarkable Punchestown record rather than what comes next. Three wins from seven races at one track is a genuinely unusual achievement, and if there is one scenario where he might turn back the clock, it is a return to Punchestown on a soft winter afternoon. He raced just 17 days ago and remains in training, so that chance may yet come.