Jazz Forever

That one career win came at Dundalk in April 2024, now 25 months ago, and it remains the sole highlight of a modest career. Dundalk is an all-weather track in Ireland, and it clearly suited Jazz Forever on that occasion — though the horse has not been able to return to that form since. The recent run of results makes for sobering reading: a 14th, two fourths, and three blank runs in the last six outings, with no sign yet of a breakthrough.

Where Jazz Forever does show a flicker of genuine ability is at the longer distances — one mile and three furlongs to one mile and four furlongs. There, the horse has won 1 from 7 races, a win rate of 14%, which works out to roughly one win in every seven attempts at that trip. That is a far cry from the overall record and suggests that when conditions suit — the right distance, the right track — there is something there worth coaxing out. It is a narrow window, but it is real.

Trainer Paul W Flynn, based in Colehill, County Longford, has had 21 winners from his yard this season, which shows the operation is clearly capable of getting horses to win races. Jazz Forever, raced just yesterday and therefore very much in active training, remains a project in progress. At six years old, horses do not tend to reinvent themselves dramatically, but Flynn's team will be hoping the right race at the right distance — ideally back at Dundalk — can produce that second career win before too long.