Strand Street Lass

Her recent form makes for tough reading. The last six runs have produced nothing in the way of a finish in the places, and back-to-back ninth-place finishes before that suggest she has been finding life difficult. That said, she raced just yesterday, so she is clearly fit and active, and her trainer has not given up on finding the right opportunity.

That trainer is Eugene M O'Sullivan, operating out of Lombardstown in County Cork. It is a small yard that has punched out four winners already this season, so O'Sullivan knows how to get a horse to the winner's enclosure. The question is whether he can unlock whatever it is that has been holding Strand Street Lass back. She has shown enough in the past to place three times from seven races — that is placing in roughly 4 out of every 10 outings — and that underlying quality is presumably what keeps her in training. Sometimes a horse just needs everything to fall right on the day: the right conditions, the right field, the right pace. Strand Street Lass has not had that moment yet, but with a trainer still actively running her, the belief clearly remains that it could still come.