Pop Star

The career arc is interesting. Pop Star broke through at Navan in August 2023, then went on to record a last win at Bath in October 2024 — a track rather far from its Irish roots, which suggests the team were willing to travel when conditions suited. That Bath win is now 18 months in the rearview mirror, and the last six runs — finishing 7th, 9th, 11th, 11th, 10th and 12th — paint a picture of a horse that has gone rather cold. Those are tail-end finishes, not near-misses, and there's little in the recent form to suggest a revival is imminent.

One puzzle worth noting: Pop Star has raced 18 times at Class 4 level — which is mid-tier racing — and has not won once at that grade. The four career wins have all come elsewhere, which raises the question of whether the horse has been pitched into slightly the wrong competitions for much of its career. Sometimes a horse finds a level that suits and clicks; Pop Star hasn't quite found that sweet spot consistently.

Trainer Iain Jardine, based in Carrutherstown in Dumfries and Galloway, is having a productive season with 57 winners sent out from the yard. Jockey Kieran O'Neill has had the ride 12 times, winning twice — that's roughly 1 in every 6 times they've paired up, or a 17% win rate, which is actually above Pop Star's overall career average of 12%, or about 1 win in every 8 races. The horse raced just yesterday, so it's clearly still being kept busy and the team haven't given up on finding another moment. Whether that moment comes soon, given the recent run of double-digit finishes, is the real question.