Mr Alan O'Sullivan

One of the more telling details in his record is how he performs when the ground gets wet. On soft or muddy tracks, O'Sullivan wins 5 from 16 races — just under 1 in 3, which is a dramatically better return than his overall average. That's not a coincidence. Some jockeys simply ride differently when the ground is heavy, showing more patience, better timing, or a natural feel for horses that need to be switched off and delivered late. Whatever the reason, when it rains, O'Sullivan becomes a much more dangerous booking.

Listowel tells a similar story. Three winners from 14 races there puts him well above his usual level at that particular track, and in racing, course form is genuinely meaningful — it often reflects a jockey who reads a specific layout well and knows where races are won and lost on that circuit.

His most regular partnership is with trainer Eugene M O'Sullivan, for whom he has ridden 20 times and won twice. A 10% win rate across 20 rides is a working relationship rather than a star pairing, but longevity in a partnership matters. Twenty rides means the trainer keeps coming back, and in a competitive weighing room, that kind of quiet loyalty is how careers are built.

Four years in, O'Sullivan looks like a jockey with a clear profile starting to emerge — better in the wet, better at certain tracks, and accumulating the kind of experience that tends to pay off as a career matures.