The recent form tells an even sharper story. Looking at the last six races — reading the numbers right to left as they happened — Samba Train finished second, then won, then had a poor run in sixth, then bounced straight back with a win, followed by a fourth, and most recently a win just this week at Killarney. That's three wins from the last six races, with only one genuinely flat effort in between. Horses that recover quickly from a bad day and keep finding the winner's enclosure are the ones the yard — sorry, the ones trainers get excited about building a programme around.
The partnership with Miss A B O'Connor is worth noting. She has been in the saddle for five of those seven career races and has two wins to show for it — a win rate of 40%, or two from every five rides together. That kind of shared understanding between horse and rider doesn't happen by accident, and it's the sort of combination that becomes harder to beat the longer it stays together.
Behind all of this is trainer E Bolger, based at Bruree in County Limerick. The yard has sent out 14 winners already this season, which tells you this isn't a small operation getting lucky — it's a stable that knows how to prepare horses to win. Samba Train first broke its duck at Listowel in May 2025, and the horse has clearly kept developing since then, stepping up rather than standing still.
With a race as recently as yesterday and a win just days ago at Killarney, Samba Train is in the form of its life right now. Whether the target is a bigger prize or simply keeping this streak going, it arrives at whatever comes next with real momentum behind it.
| Course | Races | Results | Last visited | Win rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Listowel Sharp |
2 | 1 win, 1 other | 27 Sep | 50% |
| Limerick Galloping |
2 | 1 win, 1 other | 18 Oct | 50% |
| Killarney Sharp |
1 | 1 win | 11 May | 100% |
| Thurles Undulating |
1 | 1 other | 20 Dec | 0% |
| Cork Galloping |
1 | 1 second | 10 May | 0% |