Ballyskeagh

The worry is the six weeks of silence since. After that Leopardstown win, Ballyskeagh has run twice more without finding the line first — a second place followed by a fifth. A young horse can have an off day, especially in summer when the ground softens and the racing gets harder, but the pattern matters. Joseph Patrick O'Brien's yard at Owning Hill, in Co Kilkerry, is no backwater outfit; it has sent out 160 winners already this season, so the trainer knows how to get horses ready. The question now is whether Ballyskeagh bounces back or whether that first win was the high point of an ordinary season. The fact that it raced just yesterday suggests the yard has not lost faith, and there is still time for this young horse to prove it belongs with the better material coming through O'Brien's yard.