Thornleigh Frank

Trained by Cian Collins out of Navan in County Meath, Thornleigh Frank operates from a yard that has hit the ground running this season, sending out 20 winners — a useful sign that the horses are in good form and the team knows what it is doing. Collins picked up his first win with this horse at Downpatrick in July 2023, and within three weeks Thornleigh Frank had followed it up with another victory at Galway that August. Back-to-back wins in the space of a month suggested a horse in the form of its life.

The problem is that Galway win came 36 months ago. Since then, Thornleigh Frank has gone through a long spell without getting back to the top step, and the recent form figures tell that story clearly — a sequence of 9-6-9-3-8 (reading backwards through the last five runs) shows a horse that has had more poor days than good ones lately. The most recent run, just yesterday, did not go well either. But here is the thing: that third-place finish tucked into that sequence is a genuine reminder that the ability has not completely deserted him. At nine years old he is an experienced campaigner, and horses with a win rate of around 21% over 14 races tend to find their moment eventually rather than fade entirely.

Whether Thornleigh Frank can end that 36-month drought is the real question. The Collins yard is clearly in good nick this season, and a horse that found winning form twice in quick succession before suggests it knows how to do the job. Supporters will be hoping the trainer can find the right opportunity to unlock another big day — because when it clicks for this horse, it has clicked quickly.