Western Fold

The partnership with jockey Danny Gilligan is worth highlighting. Together they have won 4 of their 7 races — that is winning more than half the time, a remarkable number in a sport where winning 1 in 4 would be considered excellent. Elliott has spoken warmly about keeping the combination together, even passing up the option of his stable jockey Jack Kennedy for big occasions because Gilligan simply gets a tune out of this horse. That kind of loyalty to a partnership tells you something.

Gowran Park is where Western Fold announced himself — his first career win came there on 11 November 2023 — and the track still suits him: 2 wins from just 4 visits. But he is no one-course wonder. Elliott was genuinely surprised by how well he ran at the Dublin Racing Festival earlier this year, considering the horse had only recently returned to full training. After Galway, Elliott described a performance that was "poetry in motion", though he admitted a 10lb penalty handed out after that win had him worried it might be enough to stop him. It wasn't.

The trainer's one consistent message is that the ground matters enormously. Western Fold likes it quick and dry — firm, fast conditions bring out the best in him — and when everything clicks, the jumping is fluent and the finishing speed is there. A horse who wins 7 from 22, keeps finding the frame when he doesn't win, raced as recently as yesterday, and has a trainer of Elliott's calibre actively planning big targets around him — Western Fold is clearly a horse who is taken seriously, and for very good reason.