FLAT turf racing can be tough work in October, and not just because of soft ground; by definition, races are harder to win during this period than any other month of the year as only March and the handful of turf meetings in November have bigger average field sizes as trainers look to get one final run before the end of the campaign.

But the song says that when the going gets tough, the tough get going and Aidan O’Brien seems to be as strong as ever at this point in the year, outlasting much of his competition and being profitable to back in the process.

From 2018 to 2024, backing all Ballydoyle runners in Irish turf races in October would have returned a level stakes profit of 52.57 points; from 469 runners, there were 109 winners for a strike-rate of 21.8% along with 204 total places (43.5% strike-rate).

October 2025 has started well too. Through last Sunday, the yard is 8/32 with 13 places for a level stakes profit of 5.71 points and the past weekend at Naas had five Ballydoyle winners.

Kept fresh

Some of them had obvious chances such as Light As Air who had a good recent run in the Petingo Handicap and had been kept fresh for the second half of the season, while Cape Cod had a couple of good maiden efforts before winning on Saturday for all that he looked awkward on occasion.

Others, however, were the type of bet a punter must look at the name of the trainer, trust him and close their eyes. Birdcatcher winner First Approach had finished last in a Group 1 on his previous start but was able to rebound dropped into a nursery while Serengeti was an even more extreme case.

In five runs in 2025, he had beaten just five rivals, and while those runs came in the best of company, he still had questions to answer.

But answer them he did to win the closing seven-furlong handicap on Saturday, and his trainer can be expected to keep finding those solutions for the rest of the month.

Keep your eyes on this Beauty Queen

BIG fields at Naas over the weekend made race reading an interesting challenge but as ever with meetings where the ground is on the slow side, the near side bias must be the starting point in races on the straight track.

Three of the first four home in the Birdcatcher got to the near side from early on, the exception being the runner-up Luna Mia who travelled well in rear and conceded first run to the winner, forced to switch into the unfavoured middle of the track and make her challenge on the worst of the ground.

She did well to finish as strongly as she did and while her overall profile points to inconsistency, she might simply be a six-furlong type. Her form figures over that trip read: 2412, the fourth coming in a Group 2 and she should prove a decent sprint handicapper next year.

Not suited by trip

The Birdcatcher is a race with status, and that can attract runners that aren’t ideally suited by the trip. Both Amiata and Joyful Tidings looked to find six furlongs beyond them here and will be better suited to the minimum distance, while Estoublon wants to go the other way, finding this trip too sharp.

The five-furlong sprint handicap later on the Saturday card was an interesting watch, Billy Lee pulling off a fine ride on the winner Stag Night, taking his mount back from stall two and gradually edging over to the near rail before challenging late.

There were a couple of notable efforts for three-year-olds in the race, both of whom have had difficult second albums in sprints as can be the way of it with weight-for-age giving them a tough task, but their marks have now dropped, and both are worth following.

Decent return

Likedbymike looked a decent sprinter last backend and produced a decent return in April, but the wheels came off after that before a recent return to form. A keen-going sort, this was the first time he produced his form away from Cork and an easier track like that probably suits best.

He travelled as well as any here, and after working to pass the leader was nabbed late by Stag Night, but his mark has dropped from a peak of 90 down to 79 here.

The fifth Beauty Queen was even more eye-catching. She over-raced early and was caught behind rivals at halfway when taking a nasty stumble after hitting a ridge.

That incident should have been race-ending, but she did well to close all the way to the line while not being knocked about.

She too has dropped from a mark of 90, now down to 80, and has the added bonus of being suited by the all-weather, having gone close off a much higher mark against older rivals back in March.

In the six-furlong maiden for colts and geldings on Sunday, Michael’s Well shaped like the best prospect in the field. He travelled best, got caught out in the middle of the track and seemed to become unbalanced at points too. Despite all this, he managed to finish second and is one to follow for a yard that have finished the year well.

SUNDAY at Cork saw a first for Irish racing with initial Academy Hurdle taking place. Reaction from trainers to the initiative in words, if not deeds, has been mixed at best, Noel Meade critical of the move and Willie Mullins adding his thoughts on the subject last weekend. I am not sure of the logic of the Mullins’ critique, however.

He said that the races are ‘going against the whole integrity of racing’ and that they are only ‘a sales ploy.’

Perhaps my interpretation of integrity is different to his, but races where trainers are looking to get their horses sold probably have more integrity than most as those handlers want their horses seen in the best light and are not aiming at a target race perhaps six months down the line.

Actions speak louder than words in any case, and Mullins was one of 14 different trainers to have a runner in the Cork race, something which suggests a decent degree of interest.

Decent winner

Quinta Do Lago ran out a decent winner for Jessica Harrington and there was promise from a few in behind, allowing that it is hard to know what they achieved.

Hardy Stuff had to be pulled up after hanging badly early on the second circuit but as a group, these inexperienced horses jumped as well as the ones in the traditional three-year-old maiden hurdle that followed.

As a punting medium, these races make next to no appeal, but it is not always about the betting and HRI Head of Racing Richard Pugh has given thorough explanations on the rationale for these races in his recent interviews on the subject.

It might be worth giving HRI the benefit of the doubt on this for the moment, though we will learn more as the season develops, and they are only seven races out of the ballpark 1,500 jumps races that take place in Ireland each calendar year, with the broader idea of innovation on race programming something to be encouraged.