Declan Queally

The horse that tells you most about what Queally does well is Rocky's Howya. Three wins from eight races together is a remarkable ratio — that's winning more than a third of the time with a single horse, which suggests a trainer who genuinely understands what a particular animal needs to perform. Finding that kind of groove with a horse isn't luck; it comes from reading them closely and placing them in the right spots.

At track level, Naas stands out. Three winners from just eight runners there means Queally's horses win 3 in every 8 races at that course — a conversion rate that would make plenty of established yards envious. Whether that reflects careful race selection, horses that suit the track, or simply a trainer who has worked out the puzzle of a particular venue, it's the kind of stat that's worth remembering when one of his runners turns up there.

His most regular jockey partnership is with Mr M J Kenneally, who has ridden 37 of the yard's runners and converted 4 of them into winners. That's roughly 1 win in every 9 rides together, which is modest on paper — but the volume of those 37 rides tells you this is a genuine working relationship rather than a casual arrangement. When a jockey keeps coming back to a yard and the numbers keep ticking over, it usually means both sides find it worth their while.

Ninety-three winners in four years, a stable jockey, a standout stable star, and a track he's quietly turned into something of a hunting ground — Queally's operation has the look of a yard that is still building, but building in the right direction.