Mr P J O'Neill

His most frequent partnership is with trainer John F O'Neill, but their 13 rides together have yet to produce a win. Similarly, his longest-running association is with Tullyhogue Fort, a horse he has ridden 32 times — a considerable amount of experience in the saddle with one animal — but again, a winner has not come from that combination. Thirty-two races is a long time to spend with the same horse without a victory, and it suggests both horse and rider have been competitive enough to keep getting chances without quite converting them.

At this stage of his career, O'Neill is in the grind that every young jockey knows well — building experience, learning the rhythms of racing, and waiting for the moment things click. That first winner, when it comes, will have been a long time in the making.