Bodhisattva

At nine years old, Bodhisattva is a seasoned veteran of the racecourse, and the most telling detail on its record is that last win: Perth, May 2023, now three full years ago. Six races since then without a victory, including a ninth, a fourth, an eleventh, a fifth, and a third in its most recent outings. That fourth and third show the ability is still flickering — just not quite catching light when it matters. It raced just yesterday, which tells you this is a horse still being kept busy and in work.

In the races it contests most often — a competitive level where the fields are deep and the margins tight — Bodhisattva has won 1 from 6, which works out at around 1 in every 6 attempts at that grade. That is actually a respectable ratio given its overall record, suggesting the team at Stamullen have a reasonable idea of where this horse belongs. John C McConnell's yard has sent out 42 winners this season, so there is clearly plenty of ability in the operation — Bodhisattva just has not been the one delivering lately.

Regular partner Alex Harvey has partnered the horse seven times without a win between them, a combination that has come close on occasion but not yet clicked. That is not unusual with a horse whose wins have always been something of a surprise gift rather than a reliable expectation. The first victory came at Navan in March 2022, and the second at a track hundreds of miles away in Scotland a little over a year later — two different venues, two different moments when everything aligned. Whether a third such moment is still possible at nine is the question, but the fact that Bodhisattva is still racing, still placing, and still being pointed at tracks by a yard that clearly knows what it is doing suggests nobody has given up on finding out.