Toll Stone

That drought is the most pressing storyline right now. Toll Stone's last victory came at Galway back in August 2024 — nearly two years ago — and the six races since have yielded nothing better than a second place. The recent form reads 2, pulled up, 3, 2, 11, 5, which is a mixed picture. There are encouraging signs in those two runner-up finishes, but the pulled up and the 11th suggest inconsistency that will need ironing out before the yard — sorry, before the team at Emmet Mullins's yard — can talk seriously about a return to winning ways.

Mullins himself is worth paying attention to. Based in Bagenalstown, Co. Carlow, his yard has sent out 31 winners already this season, which marks it out as a genuinely productive operation. When a yard is firing like that, even a horse in a lean spell benefits from the environment around it. Regular partner Donagh Meyler has ridden Toll Stone six times and won once together — that's roughly 1 in every 6 rides, or 17% — a decent enough partnership, though not yet a deeply established one.

What keeps the profile interesting is that Toll Stone raced just one day ago, meaning this is a horse very much in the thick of its career. The first win came at Fairyhouse in February 2024, and the second at Galway six months later — two different tracks, which suggests the horse isn't dependent on one particular course to show its best. Whether it can recapture that form and add a third win to the tally is the open question. With a consistent trainer, a familiar jockey, and clear evidence of ability to place, the ingredients are there. The wins just need to start coming again.