County Final

Since that Navan breakthrough, County Final has been less visible — an eighth and a thirteenth in his two most recent completed runs suggest he hasn't quite recaptured that form, and there's a gap of 8 months since he last won. That said, he raced just one day ago, so he is clearly still an active part of the campaign at E McNamara's yard in Rathkeale, Co. Limerick — a stable that has been in strong form this season, sending out 22 winners. A trainer operating at that level of output knows which horses are worth keeping in work, and County Final is evidently still in the picture.

The honest read on County Final is that he's a horse who has shown he can win — those two placed efforts before his Navan victory proved he was close — but finding that level again consistently has proved difficult. Whether the yard can find the right opportunity to get him back in the winner's enclosure is the question worth watching.