Not Just Any Eagle

The horse's best window was longer ago than you might hope. A win at Leopardstown on 16 May last year remains the most recent victory—more than a year and counting without a trip into the winner's circle. Before that dry spell, there was at least one genuine piece of form: a strong record at Cork, where the horse has won 2 of just 4 races, suggesting the track suits it. More telling still is the distance preference. Stepped up to 1m3f or 1m4f, Not Just Any Eagle comes alive: 3 wins from 14 attempts at that trip, a win rate of one in every five races. It is a horse that needs room to work and a proper galloping surface to show its best.

Robyn Donaghue-Leahy, the most regular pilot, has ridden the horse to 4 of those 5 career wins from 24 races together—a 17% win rate that stands notably higher than the overall record, suggesting the pair have genuine understanding. Trainer Patrick J Flynn, based at Carrick-On-Suir in Waterford, has kept the horse active this season. The current form is thin, but if the horse can find one of those longer-distance races on a track where it has run well before, there is a win waiting somewhere. The last 15 months without victory feel unusually long for a horse that showed it could put races away with regularity.