O'Reilly

The recent form makes for difficult reading — a 12th, two thirds, a second, and then an 11th and a 6th in his last six races. That kind of sequence would test anyone's patience. What keeps the team interested, though, is what happened at Leopardstown, where O'Reilly ran well enough to catch the eye. After that run, assistant trainer Kate Harrington pointed to the ground as a key factor — the horse had been entered at Navan before that but was pulled out because conditions didn't suit. When they got it right, he responded. That detail matters: a horse who needs a specific set of circumstances to show his best is frustrating, but he is not without ability.

There is also the question of distance. Both Fahey and Harrington have spoken about stepping O'Reilly up to a mile and two furlongs, believing his current trips aren't long enough to see the best of him. The thinking is that in stronger, better-quality races he would jump off quicker and travel more easily through the race — in other words, he's been slightly outpaced in the early stages of lesser contests, which is a counterintuitive but real phenomenon. A horse can sometimes look more comfortable when the pace is genuinely on. Whether that theory gets tested is the open question. He raced just yesterday, so he remains very much an active runner, and the yard clearly has plans. For now, O'Reilly is one of racing's more stubborn puzzles — a horse his team believes in, still looking for the race that proves them right.