Brains

The distance that suits Brains best is a mile to a mile and a quarter. Over that range, the record reads 7 wins from 29 races — nearly 1 in every 4 — which tells you this is a horse that knows its job when conditions are right. Add wet or muddy ground and the numbers get even more interesting: 2 wins from just 6 races on soft or heavy terrain, a 33% win rate that any trainer would take. When the heavens open, Brains is worth paying attention to.

Kempton Park has been a happy hunting ground too. Two wins from 6 races there might not sound dramatic, but courses suit horses for all kinds of reasons — the shape of the track, the camber of the bends, the way the ground rides — and a horse that wins a third of its races at a specific venue is a horse that knows where it likes to run. The first career win came at Ffos Las back in September 2021, and the most recent was at Leopardstown in March 2025, which means Brains has been winning races across four different calendar years. That kind of longevity is genuinely rare.

The current moment, though, is a quieter chapter. Brains has not won in the last 6 races, and the recent form figures — finishing 14th and then 8th and 13th before a second place in the most recent outing — suggest the spark has been harder to find. Trainer R Donohoe's yard has sent out 6 winners this season, so the operation is functioning, and with Patrick McGettigan yet to find the winner's enclosure across 7 rides together, that partnership is still searching for its breakthrough. The second place just a day ago at least shows Brains is still competitive and still racing. At ten, still placing, still travelling to tracks — there is plenty to like about a horse that simply refuses to go quietly.