Saint Davy

That victory came at Sandown Park in February 2024 — a Class 1 race that represents the high point of his career so far. He has not won since, and that gap now stretches to 27 months. What makes the silence frustrating rather than damning is the reason behind it. His trainer Jonjo O'Neill explains that a bad fall at Ffos Las, shortly after that Sandown win, knocked the stuffing out of his season — and in O'Neill's view, you never really saw the best of Saint Davy again after it. Falls at speed are violent, unsettling experiences for horses, and their effects are not always visible in the finishing positions.

His last six runs read as a string of near-misses and blanks, with a pair of third-place finishes sandwiched in the middle. The trainer has been candid that certain race conditions have made it difficult to place him ideally — he was forced to stay hurdling when he is, by O'Neill's own description, a chaser in the making. That matters because different racing formats suit different horses, and running him out of his natural territory has blunted his results.

What does suit him is wet, soft ground. In those conditions he has won 3 of his 6 races — exactly half, which is a remarkable conversion rate at any level. O'Neill describes him as an out-and-out galloper, and that type tends to thrive when the ground is soft enough to stretch the race into a proper test of stamina. His partnership with jockey Jonjo O'Neill Jr is also worth noting: together they have won 4 of their 13 races — 31%, or nearly 1 in every 3 — which is a strong record. The yard itself has been in fine form, sending out 52 winners this season. Saint Davy raced just yesterday, so he is firmly in the mix. The pieces are there; the question is whether they fall into place.