Sligo

The trainer, Joseph Patrick O'Brien, is in the best form of any handler in this field right now — winning roughly 1 in 5 races over the past two weeks — which is the single most compelling reason to give this horse a second look. The horse itself has yet to win or place across three runs, but cheekpieces are added today and this is the first time running on normal ground. There is more potential interest here than the form figures alone suggest.

Joint top-rated alongside Down The Glen but with just two races under its belt, making this one of the least experienced horses in the field. A third-place finish at Kempton last time out — beaten under three lengths — is a solid enough platform, but this horse has never raced on normal ground, so today's conditions are genuinely unknown territory. There is obvious potential here, but there are just too many question marks.

Nine races in and still searching for a first win, but the jockey riding today — J M Sheridan — is the standout form figure in the saddle right now, winning roughly 1 in every 4 rides over the past two weeks. That is the best recent jockey form in this field by a clear margin. The horse itself has been struggling lately with back-to-back eighth-place finishes, so the booking is the real reason to take notice here.

The trainer Michael Mulvany won this exact race in 2024 and had the runner-up the year before, which gives this horse a clear course-form angle that none of its rivals can match. At 5.5, this is one of the more fancied runners despite having no wins from six career races, and the step up to today's longer trip of 1m 2f is being touted as the key improvement factor. The draw in stall one is a minor negative at this course and distance, where low draws have a poor record.