Trustyourinstinct

O'Brien's yard has been in tremendous shape this season, sending out 160 winners, and Trustyourinstinct is one of their better-performed horses at the stakes level — that is, the higher-grade races where the best horses compete. His trainer has pointed to a Group 3 win at Leopardstown over a mile and a half and a near-miss in a Group 2 in Italy as evidence of his quality, and the assessment from the yard has been consistent: this is a horse who shows up and does his job. "You can set your clock by him," O'Brien said after his most recent win.

That win came at The Curragh just this week, and it was no routine success. He stepped up in class and raced over a shorter distance than he usually prefers, carrying a penalty for his previous win — an extra weight disadvantage given to recent winners — and still found a turn of foot that his trainer described as one of his best performances. It is worth noting that Gowran Park is a particular happy hunting ground: three races there, three wins, a perfect record that suggests something about how he handles that track's demands.

On wet or muddy ground, he is similarly unbeatable on the evidence so far — three races, three wins, a 100% record that tells you he genuinely thrives when conditions get soft. Most often partnered by Declan McDonogh, the pair have won 3 of their 8 races together, but Dylan Browne McMonagle was aboard for this week's Curragh success. He is a horse who is home-bred by his owner JP O'Brien and his wife Noreen — which, as the jockey noted post-race, gives everyone connected with him a little extra reason to smile.