Local Lad

His recent runs tell an interesting story. Looking at the last six races, most recent first, the form reads a missed placing, then third, eighth, third, third, and fourth. Strip away that one poor run and you have a horse who keeps finishing in the first four almost every time out — which means he is competitive, just not quite sharp enough at the crucial moment. For a horse still only 4 years old, that level of consistency is not without value. Many horses take time to find their winning moment, and the fact that he raced just yesterday shows the team around him believes he is in good enough shape to keep trying.

He is trained by Gerard O'Leary at a yard based in Kildare, Co. Kildare, a part of Ireland that sits at the heart of the sport and produces serious horses at serious yards. O'Leary's team has sent out 11 winners already this season, so this is not a small operation struggling for form — they clearly know how to get a horse ready to win. The question for Local Lad is simply whether the right race comes along to let him show what those placed efforts have been hinting at all along.