An Peann Dearg

What makes the story richer is that trainer Paul Nolan, based in Enniscorthy in Co. Wexford, will tell you the first of those wins genuinely caught him off guard. He had reservations about sending the horse to Leopardstown at Christmas — and then watched him win. A month later, he backed it up at the same track, hitting the line even harder than the first time. Nolan noted the horse travelled well on both occasions, suggesting there is a fluency to how he races around Leopardstown specifically. Two wins from five races there is the kind of record that makes a venue look like a second home.

The caveat is that An Peann Dearg has not won in his last six races, and his recent finishing positions — including finishes of seventh, seventh, and fourteenth — suggest the form has cooled since that Leopardstown double. Nolan has been candid that the horse has had physical problems over the years, which explains why he is so lightly raced for a nine-year-old; 19 races at this stage of a career is a thin total, and it reflects a horse who has spent time on the sidelines rather than one who has been found out competitively. When he has been right, the results have spoken clearly.

His partnership with jockey Sean O'Keeffe is worth noting: two wins from seven races together works out at roughly 1 in every 3-and-a-half, a win rate of 29% that tells you the combination clicks. Paul Nolan's yard has sent out 25 winners this season, so this is not a quiet operation scraping for results. An Peann Dearg is a horse who arrives at his best on a specific stage — and twice in recent memory, he has delivered right on cue.