Dragon Of Malta

At nine years old, this is a horse with plenty of racing miles on the clock. Across 37 races, it has won 4 times and placed in 12 more, which works out at winning roughly 1 in every 9 races overall. That might not sound like a dazzling number, but context matters. When conditions suit — and for Dragon Of Malta, that means proper wet, muddy ground — the picture changes sharply. On that kind of surface it has won 3 of 9 races, or 1 in every 3. That is not a coincidence; that is a pattern worth paying close attention to.

The most striking detail in this horse's profile is its relationship with Listowel racecourse in County Kerry. Three wins from 7 races there is a genuinely remarkable record — winning almost half the time at a specific track is the sort of thing that makes trainers plan their whole autumn around it. The most recent of those wins came in September 2025, and the horse is still active, having raced just one day ago. Its last six results read 8-15-3-1-1-2, meaning three of those six runs have produced either a win or a runner-up finish. The sharp end of the field is clearly where Dragon Of Malta belongs when things click.

P F O'Donnell's yard has sent out 3 winners this season, so this is a small operation rather than a big training powerhouse — which makes Dragon Of Malta something of a yard stalwart. Colin Keane, one of Ireland's top jockeys, has partnered the horse five times and won once, a 20% win rate or 1 win from 5 rides, which is a healthy return. At distances between seven furlongs and a mile, the horse has won 3 of 18 races — roughly 1 in 6 — confirming that this is where it is most effective.

Dragon Of Malta will never headline a festival, and it is not the sort of name that casual fans would recognise. But for anyone watching on a wet September afternoon at Listowel, this is a horse worth noticing. It knows that track, it loves that ground, and it has a habit of making both count.