Final Demand

He is trained by Willie Mullins at Muine Bheag in County Carlow, and it is worth pausing on what that yard means. Mullins has sent out 230 winners this season alone — a staggering volume that puts the operation in a league of its own in Irish racing. When a horse catches the eye even within that environment, it says something. Final Demand has done exactly that.

His most recent form reads 2-3-1-1-1-3, which tells an interesting story in itself. Three wins in six races, a couple of podium finishes, but also a pair of third-place efforts that hint at a horse still finding his way in certain conditions. The trainer has been candid about this. Mullins noted after a disappointing run that he wondered whether the team were missing something at home, and that the horse had looked underwhelmed around Christmas time. Paul Townend, who has ridden Final Demand in six of his races and won three of them — giving the pair a 50% win rate together — described one Leopardstown run as simply "not good enough," pointing to sloppy jumping that may have been connected to a small physical issue. That kind of honesty from a top jockey is worth noting.

What makes Final Demand genuinely compelling is the flip side of those concerns. At Cheltenham, Townend described him as feeling "more like himself" — a horse who jumped well, carried his rider everywhere, and still had Townend convinced he would win even halfway up the run-in. That is the profile of a horse with serious ability on his day. He appears to thrive on wet, testing ground, which narrows when he can show his best but also means that when conditions suit, those around him had better be ready. He last raced 35 days ago, has had a short break, and his first career win came at Limerick in December 2024. The key question now is whether the team can unlock consistency from a horse who, at his peak, looks like something quite special.