Skillman Ave

That one win came at Tipperary on 2 July 2025, and it matters more than it might look. Tipperary is a track that suits a certain kind of horse — patient, unhurried, willing to find a rhythm over a longer trip — and getting off the mark there suggests Skillman Ave is not simply making up the numbers. Six places from 25 races also tells you this horse is competitive regularly enough; it just has not quite managed to turn those near-misses into victories.

The recent form, however, makes for sobering reading. The last six runs have produced finishes of 11th, 10th, and two 8ths, with a couple of non-completions mixed in. That is a horse that has been struggling to land a blow, and the partnership with regular jockey Gary Carroll — seven races together without a win — has yet to click into gear. John C McConnell's yard at Stamullen has been in fine form this season, sending out 38 winners, so the firepower is clearly there. Skillman Ave just needs to find a way to tap into it.

Having raced just one day ago, this is a horse that is very much in the thick of things. Whether a return to Tipperary, the scene of that sole career triumph, might spark something is the obvious question. Sometimes a horse simply needs to get back to somewhere it has already proved it belongs.