Baltic Bird

Trained by William Durkan out of Sandyford in County Dublin — a yard that has already sent out 13 winners this season — Baltic Bird opened its account at Great Yarmouth back in May 2022 and has kept competitive ever since. The most recent win came at Down Royal in May 2025, which means it has gone six races without finding the winner's enclosure since, though it has been racing as recently as yesterday, so this is very much a horse still in active service.

The clearest pattern in the form book is how much Baltic Bird benefits from normal conditions underfoot. On standard ground, it has won 3 from 12 races — a 25% win rate, or 1 in 4 — which is a genuinely strong record and suggests a horse that finds its best running when conditions are neither muddy nor rock-hard. Over a distance of a mile and three to a mile and four furlongs, it has won 1 from 3 races, a 33% win rate, which points to a horse that stays well and might be best when there is a proper test of stamina.

Patrick M O'Brien has been the most regular partner, winning once from six rides together — about 1 in 6 — and that ongoing relationship with a consistent jockey often matters more than the bare numbers imply. Recent form reads 3-7-3-5-11-6, which is patchy, but there are placings in there that suggest Baltic Bird is not far off finding a race. The question is whether the right conditions — normal ground, a mile and a half-ish, on a track that suits — will all align at once. Given it is only a day off its last run and still racing actively at seven, Baltic Bird looks like exactly the kind of tough, durable horse that a well-organised small yard relies on to keep the tally ticking over.