Ocastle Des Mottes

Willie Mullins is the trainer, based in Muine Bheag in County Carlow, and the scale of his operation is genuinely staggering — 220 winners already this season from his yard alone. When a trainer of that calibre keeps persevering with a horse, it usually means he sees something worth persevering with. And Mullins has been candid about it: he admitted the horse had frustrated him, because what he was showing at home in training was clearly better than what was appearing on a racetrack. That gap between homework and race-day performance is one of the most maddening puzzles in the sport, but Mullins reported a genuine breakthrough recently, when Ocastle Des Mottes ran a race he was pleased with at Punchestown — finishing behind Ballyburn, a horse of serious quality — and started to look like he had found his feet jumping fences.

The wider picture adds some useful context. When the horse first ran in Britain at Newbury, jockey Daryl Jacob noted that he travelled well early on but faded late in the race — and pointed out this was his very first run outside France, in a fiercely competitive race. Moving yards, moving countries, adjusting to a different style of racing: these things take time, and Jacob was clearly optimistic, describing him as "hopefully a very nice horse" once he had fully settled into the Mullins way of doing things.

His recent form figures read 4-5-2-19-8-5 — that second place from six runs back is the most eye-catching result, suggesting he can get competitive when things click. He has had a short break of around six weeks since his last run, which often signals a horse being freshened up with a specific target in mind. With a powerful yard behind him, a trainer who believes the pieces are finally falling into place, and a bit of evidence that jumping fences suits him, Ocastle Des Mottes is the kind of horse that could make that first win feel like it was worth the wait.