Skellig Isle

That single win came at Nottingham back in August 2024, and it did not arrive easily. Philip McBride's team had seen her throw herself around at Sandown on debut — the trainer's own words were "bucking bronco" — before she settled down enough to finish fourth at Kempton. Nottingham over five furlongs was the charm. Jockey Tom, who McBride credited with doing "a great job" with another horse from the same yard, got the tune out of her that day. It has not been repeated since. That win now sits 21 months in the past, and her last six runs have produced finishes of 6th, 10th, 4th, 7th, 13th, and 5th — moving in the wrong direction rather than building on her breakthrough.

What makes the record harder to explain away is where she has been competing. The bulk of her career — seven of her thirteen races — has come at Class 5 level, which is among the more accessible tiers of British racing. She has not won once at that level across those seven attempts. For context, if you are a horse who cannot win at Class 5, the options for finding easier opportunities start to run thin. McBride is a Newmarket-based trainer who has sent out 10 winners this season, so the yard is clearly capable of getting horses to win. The question with Skellig Isle is whether that Nottingham afternoon was a glimpse of real ability or simply a moment that has not — and may not — come around again.

She is only four, which means there is still time. And she raced just yesterday, so McBride clearly has not given up. Sometimes a horse just needs the right day, the right ground, the right trip. Skellig Isle has found all three once. Finding them again is the project.