Torpille Dagrostis

She is six years old and trained by Gordon Elliott, one of the most prolific handlers in Ireland right now. His yard at Longwood, Co Meath, has sent out 209 winners already this season — that is not a quiet corner of the sport. When a horse catches the attention of a yard running at that kind of volume, it tends to mean something. Elliott has spoken openly about his ambitions for her: he would love to pick up some black-type, which is essentially a marker in a horse's breeding record that signals she has competed and placed at a high level. That matters because she is a full sister to Itchy Feet, a well-regarded jumper, and a strong pedigree becomes even more valuable with a bit of prestige attached.

What makes the Leopardstown win particularly interesting is how Elliott described it afterwards — she had been knocking on the door for a while, the race "found them" rather than the team going searching for it, and he admitted to nerves about running her back quickly. That kind of honesty is rare, and it suggests a trainer who knows exactly what he has: a talented horse who needed things to fall right. Now that they have, the next step is fences. Elliott has been clear that jumping a fence is firmly in her future, and that she will get better over longer distances. With Leopardstown on her record and a big yard behind her, the next chapter looks like the most interesting one yet.