Shafters Legacy

The recent form tells an interesting tale. A run of 8th and 13th suggested a horse that was struggling to find its rhythm, but the last two outings show something clicking into place — a 3rd followed by a 5th, and given that the most recent of those came just a day ago, this is a horse in the middle of an active campaign right now. That climb up the finishing order is exactly what you want to see from a young horse still learning the game.

What gives genuine reason for optimism is who is doing the training. Andrew Slattery, based in Thurles in County Tipperary, has sent out 62 winners already this season — that is a yard operating at a serious level, with the kind of volume that suggests they know exactly what they are doing with young horses. When a trainer of that output puts a two-year-old on the track four times in quick succession, it usually means they believe the horse is developing and getting closer. Shafters Legacy may not have found the winner's enclosure yet, but in a yard firing on all cylinders, patience tends to pay off.