Mythical Rock

The partnership with jockey Luke McAteer tells its own story. The two have been paired together 17 times without a single win between them — 0 from 17 — which is an extraordinary number of near-misses to accumulate with the same rider. That said, McAteer has clearly been trusted repeatedly by the trainer C Byrnes, who sends horses out from a yard in Ballingarry, County Limerick. That yard has been in decent form this season, sending out 26 winners, so the platform is there — Mythical Rock just hasn't quite converted.

Where the horse does look most at home is over a mile and three to a mile and four furlongs, the kind of middle-distance trip that suits a horse who stays well rather than relying on speed. At those distances, the record reads 1 win from 6 races — roughly 1 in 6, or about 17% — which is meaningfully better than the career average and suggests the yard knows where this horse is most likely to fire. Recent form shows a win and a second tucked in among the last six runs, which is actually the most encouraging stretch of Mythical Rock's career so far. With a race just yesterday, this is a horse very much in the middle of its season — and perhaps, finally, building some momentum.