Desert Cave

Nearly two years have passed since that Kilbeggan success, and the last six runs have brought finishes of 11th, a couple of blanks, 6th, 5th, and 9th — a sequence that shows a horse finding it difficult to recapture its best. Shane Fitzgerald has ridden Desert Cave five times without a win between them, which is not a criticism of either horse or jockey so much as a reflection of how hard this horse finds it to get its nose in front.

The yard behind Desert Cave is Ian Patrick Donoghue's operation in Clonalvy, County Meath, and it is worth noting that Donoghue's team has sent out 26 winners this season — so this is not a struggling outfit. Desert Cave simply appears to be one of those horses that sits a rung below the winners, placing often enough to suggest ability but not quite delivering when it counts. Raced just yesterday, Desert Cave is still very much an active competitor, and at eight years old there may not be a huge number of chapters left to write. Whether another day like that June afternoon in Kilbeggan is still out there is the question the team will be hoping to answer.