Look at his recent form and something has clearly clicked. His last six races read 7-7-4-1-3-3 (oldest to newest), which is a near-perfect arc from struggling to threatening to winning. He came home first at Newcastle, and has since backed that up with two more third-place finishes. That's five runs in a row where he's been in the mix, and for a horse that was finishing towards the back not so long ago, that turnaround is genuinely striking.
Most of those runs have come in Class 4 races — the bread and butter of the racing calendar, a level where competitive fields make it surprisingly hard to win. In fact, he's yet to win at that level specifically, going 0 from 7 there. His breakthrough came in a different grade, which raises an interesting question about where his trainer Philip Kirby pitches him next. Kirby, based at East Appleton in North Yorkshire, has been in fine form this season — 36 winners from the yard already — so he clearly knows what he's doing when it comes to finding the right race for a horse.
Joe Williamson has been in the saddle for 10 of The Clonmel Kid's 12 races, winning once together, which works out at 1 in every 10 rides. That's not a barnstorming partnership by the numbers, but the key point is that Williamson has been there for almost all of the horse's development — he was aboard for the rough patches and for the breakthrough. With the horse in the best form of his career and still racing regularly — he ran just yesterday — this is a partnership that looks like it might be heading somewhere interesting rather than winding down.
| Course | Races | Results | Last visited | Win rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hexham Undulating |
3 | 1 second, 1 third, 1 other | 19 May | 0% |
| Catterick Bridge Sharp |
3 | 1 third, 2 other | 28 Dec | 0% |
| Newcastle Galloping |
2 | 1 win, 1 second | 11 Apr | 50% |
| Wetherby Galloping |
2 | 1 third, 1 other | 27 Mar | 0% |
| Kelso Undulating |
1 | 1 third | 6 May | 0% |
| Aintree Galloping |
1 | 1 other | 6 Dec | 0% |