The Passing Wife

The most interesting number in the file is what happens when conditions turn wet. On soft or muddy ground, The Passing Wife has won 2 of its 4 races — that's a 50% win rate, which is extraordinary. Half the time it races on wet ground, it wins. Most horses are flattered by a good surface; this one thrives when the weather turns.

There's also a clear love affair with Punchestown. Two wins from four visits to that track, including a victory there as recently as January 2026, make it a genuine course specialist. That first win came there in November 2023, and the horse has kept coming back to confirm it wasn't a fluke. Jockey Keith Donoghue, who partners this horse regularly, put it plainly after that January win: on form, The Passing Wife deserved it — even if the other horse in the race was carrying more of the hype.

The yard has its eye on the Cheltenham Festival, and trainer Gavin Cromwell has spoken openly about whether The Passing Wife could be a contender for the Albert Bartlett — one of the top staying races of the Festival week. Cromwell was candid that he felt the handicapper was harsh in bumping the horse up 3lb after its last win, though he acknowledged that Vanillier won the Albert Bartlett from a similar kind of mark, so perhaps it isn't impossible. Donoghue himself gave a revealing post-race assessment at Cheltenham: early on the horse was slightly off the pace, but in the final mile it came alive and got to the front perhaps a touch sooner than ideal. The jockey wanted something ahead to chase. That's not a weakness — it's a detail that a good team files away for next time.

Recent form reads as two unplaced runs, a win, another unplaced run, then two placings — which sounds mixed, but the win and the placed efforts are there in among it. This is a horse currently in form, still racing, and pointing toward a big spring target.