Real Force

Where Real Force genuinely earns attention is over the shorter distances. Kept to five furlongs up to six-and-a-half furlongs, the record reads two wins from eight races — that's 1 in every 4, a win rate that suddenly looks a lot more respectable. Sprint distances clearly suit this horse, and it's the kind of detail that separates a canny punter from someone just scanning the racecard. Both career victories have come on that shorter trip, the first at Cork in April 2023 and the second — and most recent — at The Curragh in March 2024. The Curragh is one of Ireland's most prestigious venues, so winning there is no small thing.

That Curragh win was now 25 months ago, and the recent form makes for sobering reading: the last six runs show finishes of 9th, 5th, 12th, 4th, and a non-completion, before a blank result most recently. It is a sequence that tells a story of a horse searching for its best, without quite finding it. Still, Real Force raced just one day ago, which means the horse is very much in active training and competing regularly.

Gerard O'Leary's yard in Kildare has sent out 11 winners this season, which shows a stable in decent form and capable of placing its horses where they can compete. Whether Real Force can rediscover that winning feeling over the right trip and on the right day is the open question — but given what this horse has shown when the conditions line up, it would be unwise to write it off entirely.