Great Universe

Those two wins tell an interesting story on their own. The first came at Clonmel in March 2023, and the second at Sligo in October 2024 — nearly 19 months apart. That's a long time between victories, and it tells you something about how competitive life gets for a horse like this. It's not that Great Universe isn't good enough to win; it clearly is. But getting all the pieces to fall into place — the right race, the right conditions, the right day — is harder than it looks from the outside.

The most recent win at Sligo is now 18 months in the past, and the last six races have gone without a victory. The recent form reads 2-3-–-–-–-5, which shows the horse placing in two of those six, so it hasn't fallen off a cliff — but it hasn't found the winner's enclosure either. Jockey Ricky Doyle, who has ridden Great Universe in 8 of its 17 races, has managed 1 win together, a partnership win rate of about 1 in 8. That's modest, but it reflects the horse's overall profile rather than anything specific to Doyle.

Trainer Martin Brassil, based in Dunmurray in County Kildare, has had 10 winners out of his yard this season — a solid, productive campaign — and Great Universe was in action just one day ago, so this is very much an active, working horse still being placed and aimed at races. At ten, some horses start to wind down, but Great Universe is still showing up, still placing, and still giving its team reasons to keep going. Whether another win is in it remains to be seen, but there's enough here to suggest the yard hasn't given up on finding the right opportunity.