Gold Dancer

Trained by Willie Mullins at his yard in Muine Bheag, Co Carlow — a stable that has sent out 230 winners already this season, which is the kind of number that makes rival trainers wince — Gold Dancer opened his account at Tipperary in May 2025. At the time, Mullins noted he had done absolutely nothing wrong since switching to racing over fences, and described him as a rapid improver. Those words turned out to be well chosen. His most recent form reads 1-2-4-2-2-1, meaning he has barely been out of the frame across his last six races, with wins bookending that sequence.

The most recent of those wins came at Aintree this week — one of the great old racecourses in Britain, a place where reputations are made. Winning there matters. Jockey Paul Townend, who rode him at Tipperary, had already signalled where this horse was heading, saying after that win that Gold Dancer was improving and entitled to go up and face tougher competition. That has proved to be exactly the direction of travel.

It has not all been plain sailing at the top level. A run at Cheltenham — the toughest arena jump racing has to offer — ended in defeat, though jockey Sean Cleary-Farrell was quick to point out that Gold Dancer gave everything he had and was beaten by a horse carrying considerably less weight. That is not the verdict of a horse out of his depth; it is the verdict of a horse who ran a genuine race and was simply disadvantaged on the day. In jump racing, that distinction matters enormously.

With 4 wins from 12 races — one in every three starts — Gold Dancer is operating at a level that demands attention. He is in form, racing actively, and in the hands of the most prolific yard in the sport. Whatever comes next, he will not be going there quietly.