Va Va Vroom

That one career win came at Leopardstown in July 2024, and it was enough to open a few doors. Cromwell had bigger ambitions for her and sent her to France for a Group 2 at Deauville the following August — one of the better middle-distance races on the European calendar. It did not go to plan. Heavy overnight rain changed the ground completely, and Va Va Vroom hated it. Cromwell has been candid about what she needs: fast, dry ground, the kind where you can hear hooves striking the turf. On wet or muddy ground, she is a different horse entirely. That France trip, far from being a failure, actually tells you something useful — this is a horse with the ability to be aimed at top-level races, just one who needs conditions to fall her way.

Her most recent form figures — 12-5-10-8-5-5 — look modest, but her last run at Leopardstown was just yesterday, and Cromwell has suggested her homework is starting to click into gear. She performs best at distances between seven furlongs and a mile, where she has won 1 from 5 races (20%), and her regular jockey Shane Foley has the same record aboard her — 1 win from 5 rides together. That partnership clearly has a rapport, even if the results have been frustrating of late.

The trainer's own words are telling: he mentions she got no run at all in a Listed race at Dundalk to close her season, finishing strongly through beaten horses. That is the kind of detail that keeps a team believing. Va Va Vroom has not rediscovered her best form yet, but with better weather on the way and a trainer who clearly understands exactly what she needs, she may not be far off it.