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Horse profile

Desert Cave (IRE)

8yo gelding · Trainer G Ahern · Owner Mrs Marie Gubbins
by Court Cave (IRE) out of Big Hill (IRE) (Beat All)
20 runs · 15 courses · from Feb 2024
As at 18 Oct 2026 · KTB archive: GB, Ireland & France · 2005–present, updated daily
Won at Kilbeggan Ran 86 days ago · 13th of 14 Last raced off OR 98
KTB Profile

Desert Cave is a gelding who won one of 20 starts, the victory coming in the Belvedere House & Gardens Opportunity Handicap Hurdle at Kilbeggan in Jun 2024 over 2m5f – 3m on good to soft. All wins are on turf at that trip and going. He has raced 15 times at different courses. Aged 8 at his last run in Jul 2026, he finished 13 of 14 at Wexford when leading in the Cottage Autism Network Handicap Hurdle off an official rating of 98, 21lb below his highest ever mark.

Based on 20 archived runs · run-style from 8 commented runs · updated 18 Oct 2026
KTB at a glance OR ↓ 21lb off peak
Official rating98↓ 21lb off peak
98 90–119

KTB Speed and Rating

KTB Speed

Best recent Speed 119 the best of the last 3 graded (A or B) runs · Tramore, 20 Apr 2026

How fast the horse ran, as points against the day-corrected standard time for its course and distance: 100 is the median GB Class 4 handicap winner on that code; one point is 0.1% of the standard time. A, B or C is how much the day's card could tell us, not how good the run was. What this means →

Jumps 15 figures · best 119A · median 63
GoingRunsBestMedianSince 18 Oct 2025
Soft6106A591 · —
Good491C57.53 · 91 / 52
Good to Soft4119A102.53 · 119 / 95
Heavy1———
DistanceRunsBestMedianSince 18 Oct 2025
2m1f – 2m4f7106A633 · 69 / 58
2m5f – 3m4110B71.52 · 91 / 71.5
1m5f – 2m4119A672 · 119 / 107

Of 20 runs looked at, 5 have no figure: did not complete (5).

KTB Speed v1 · batch 15 Sep 2026 · GB & Irish racing only · 15 figures from 20 runs · as at 3 Oct 2026 · a record, not a forecast

KTB Rating

Best recent KTB Rating 108C the best of the last 3 rated runs · Cork, 10 Jul 2026 Official rating 98 at the last run, 23 Jul 2026

What the horse achieved in each race, in pounds on the official-rating scale, from the weight carried, the lengths beaten and the race's own level solved across the archive — never the market, never the official rating as a starting point. The headline is the best of the horse's last three rated runs on that code. A, B or C on a run is how much known form was in that race. What this means →

Jumps 15 figures · best 124B · median 100
GoingRunsBestMedianSince 18 Oct 2025
Soft6124B1031 · —
Good4108C101.53 · 108 / 100
Good to Soft4124A983 · 101 / 95
Heavy1———
DistanceRunsBestMedianSince 18 Oct 2025
2m1f – 2m4f7124B1033 · 116 / 101
2m5f – 3m4124A101.52 · 108 / 96.5
1m5f – 2m497C952 · 95 / 92

Of 20 runs looked at, 5 have no figure: did not complete (or a non-runner row) (5).

KTB Rating v1 · batch 3 Oct 2026 · GB & Irish racing only · 15 figures from 20 runs · as at 4 Oct 2026 · a record, not a forecast

Both figures are KTB's own, computed from the archive; no vendor rating enters either. Every run's figure is on its form line below with its grade. Grades measure how much the archive could see, never the merit of the run.

Run style from 8 analysed runs

  • Held up 4 (50%) · 0 wins
  • Led 2 (25%) · 0 wins
  • Midfield 1 (13%) · 0 wins
  • Prominent 1 (13%) · 0 wins

Pedigree intelligence

Sire
Court Cave (IRE)

Progeny in our archive have won 10.1% of 7,925 runs since Jan 2008 (551 horses).

Weakest on heavy going: 6.9% from 934.

GoingRunsWinsSRvs sireThis horse
Firm200%−10.1—
Good to Firm2332812%+1.9—
Good3,02234011.3%+1.20 from 5
Good to Soft1,43716011.1%+11 from 5
Soft2,2262049.2%−0.90 from 9
Heavy934646.9%−3.20 from 1
Standard (AW)7134.2%−5.9—
Distance (all codes)RunsWinsSRvs sireThis horse
6f – 7f2414.2%−5.9—
1m – 1m1f1300%−10.1—
1m2f – 1m4f7111.4%−8.7—
1m5f – 2m1,7851689.4%−0.70 from 5
2m1f – 2m4f2,84629410.3%+0.20 from 9
2m5f – 3m2,51926310.4%+0.31 from 6
Over 3m6677210.8%+0.7—

Flat and jumps together (all codes) · since Jan 2008 · as at 18 Oct 2026 · rows under 30 runs muted · win % is the measure, a record not a forecast

Dam
Big Hill (IRE) (Beat All)

No other produce in our archive. It holds racing in Great Britain, Ireland and France from 2005, so siblings racing elsewhere won’t appear here.

Record by conditions

GoingRunsWinsSR£1
Soft 9 0 0% −9.00
Good 5 0 0% −5.00
Good to Soft 5 1 20% +0.50
Heavy 1 0 0% −1.00

ClassRunsWinsSR£1
Class 4 1 0 0% −1.00

CourseRunsWinsSR£1
Kilbeggan 4 1 25% +1.50
Tramore 2 0 0% −2.00
Galway 2 0 0% −2.00
Wexford (IRE) 1 0 0% −1.00
Cork 1 0 0% −1.00
Limerick 1 0 0% −1.00
Down Royal 1 0 0% −1.00
Thurles 1 0 0% −1.00
Cartmel 1 0 0% −1.00
Killarney 1 0 0% −1.00
Fairyhouse 1 0 0% −1.00
Wexford 1 0 0% −1.00
Naas 1 0 0% −1.00
Leopardstown 1 0 0% −1.00
Punchestown 1 0 0% −1.00

DistanceRunsWinsSR£1
2m1f – 2m4f 9 0 0% −9.00
2m5f – 3m 6 1 17% −0.50
1m5f – 2m 5 0 0% −5.00

JockeyRunsWinsSR£1
Shane Fitzgerald 5 0 0% −5.00
John Shinnick 3 1 33% +2.50
Rian Lane 2 0 0% −2.00
Josh Williamson 2 0 0% −2.00
Conor Stone-Walsh 2 0 0% −2.00
Jordan Gainford 2 0 0% −2.00
Kevin Sexton 2 0 0% −2.00
Brian Hayes 1 0 0% −1.00
Niall Prendergast 1 0 0% −1.00

HeadgearRunsWinsSR£1
Tongue tie 11 1 9% −5.50
None 3 0 0% −3.00
Visor 2 0 0% −2.00
Cheekpieces 1 0 0% −1.00
Tongue tie + blinkers 1 0 0% −1.00
Tongue tie + cheekpieces 1 0 0% −1.00
HT 1 0 0% −1.00

SeasonRunsWinsSR£1
2026 7 0 0% −7.00
2025 3 0 0% −3.00
2024 10 1 10% −4.50

TypeRunsWinsSR£1
Hurdle 17 1 6% −11.50
Chase 3 0 0% −3.00

Splits include every sample, however small — muted rows are under 3 runs. A one-from-one record is a fact, not a trend: read the Runs column before the strike rate.

Form

DateCourseRace PosBtn Wgt ORSpdKTB Jockey SP
23 Jul 26+13d Wexford (IRE) Cottage Autism Network Handicap Hurdle (Div II) 24f · Good · 14 ran in front from the 1st with minor errors at the 8th and 5 out - overtaken after 3 out - faded - never a threat 13/14 1¾ 11-5 9891C85C Rian Lane 100/1
10 Jul 26+8d Cork RBC Brewin Dolphin Hurdle 24f · Good · 9 ran made the running early - opened up an advantage from the 2nd to the 9th - overtaken before 4 out - soon dropped away - faded without ever threatening - well held at the finish 7/9 60 10-7 10252C108C Rian Lane 300/1
02 Jul 26+48d Limerick Joe Walsh Flooring Handicap Hurdle 20f · Good · 14 ran Held up in the pack - unable to close from 3 out - well held at the finish 10/14 28 11-11 10544C100C Brian Hayes 80/1
15 May 26+25d Kilbeggan BOMAG Construction Handicap Hurdle 15.5f · Good To Yielding · 14 ran Settled around midfield - unable to make headway from 3 out - well held at the finish 11/14 2½ 11-5 10895B95A Josh Williamson 66/1
20 Apr 26+34d Tramore O'Driscolls Irish Whiskey Claiming Hurdle 16.5f · Good To Yielding · 7 ran Went straight to front - shared advantage briefly at 3rd before regaining command from 5th - pushed along and lost the lead after 3 out - 4th place 2 out - unable to threaten again at the finish 5/7 8 10-7 112119A89B Josh Williamson 7/1
17 Mar 26+40d Down Royal Bluegrass High Performance Rated Novice Chase 20.5f · Good To Yielding · 7 ran Went straight to front - caught 4 out and soon lost command - pressed into 3rd turning for home - unable to find more before 2 out and dropped away 6/7 11 10-13 10769A101A Conor Stone-Walsh 25/1
05 Feb 26+221d Thurles Horse & Jockey Beginners Chase 18f · Soft · 10 ran Held up towards the back of the pack - made little impression through the race - error two out while well adrift in 5th - dropped away without response late 5/10 33 11-12 —58C116C Conor Stone-Walsh 150/1
29 Jun 25+28d Cartmel Fleets Farm Handicap Hurdle Class 4 · 22f · Good To Soft · 9 ran Tracked the pace early - hit the front past the 6th - overtaken 4 out - dropped away soon after - in trouble 3 out and pulled up PU/9 — 11-13 119—— Jordan Gainford 50/1
01 Jun 25+20d Kilbeggan Geoff Scally's Centra Summerhill Beginners Chase 20.5f · Good · 12 ran Handy early - dropped through order approaching 3 out - faded from there - well beaten at finish 9/12 33 11-9 —63C103C John Shinnick 40/1
12 May 25+163d Killarney Killarney Oaks Hotel Handicap Hurdle 20f · Yielding · 10 ran Up with the front group - 3rd at halfway - minor error 4 out before being driven along - 2nd when a serious blunder 3 out and unseated rider UR/10 — 10-11 114—— Jordan Gainford 33/1
30 Nov 24+35d Fairyhouse Close Brothers Rated Novice Hurdle 20f · Yielding · 12 ran Held up at the rear throughout - never a factor from three out - pulled up before two out PU/12 — 11-4 115—— Shane Fitzgerald 50/1
26 Oct 24+52d Galway W.B. Gavin & Co. Handicap Hurdle 22f · Yielding To Soft · 10 ran Held up at the back - 7th at the 7th before dropping away approaching two out - well beaten at the finish 10/10 23 10-6 11552C95C Kevin Sexton 10/1
04 Sep 24+35d Kilbeggan Kilbeggan Racecourse Novice Handicap Hurdle (80-116) 19f · Yielding · 6 ran Up with the front group - shared 2nd from the 4th fence - pushed along and hit the front after 2 out - caught at the last - could not peg back the winner and plugged on at one speed to finish 3rd 3/6 1¼ 11-12 114106A124B Shane Fitzgerald 15/2
31 Jul 24+44d Galway Tote, Never Beaten By SP Handicap Hurdle 22.5f · Good · 20 ran PU/20 — 10-12 116—— John Shinnick 20/1
17 Jun 24+19d Kilbeggan Belvedere House & Gardens Opportunity Handicap Hurdle (80-95) (Div 2) 24.5f · Good To Yielding · 16 ran 1/16 11-5 90110B124A John Shinnick 9/2F
29 May 24+37d Wexford Fleadh Cheoil Wexford August 4th - 11th Handicap Hurdle (80-95) (Div 2) 17f · Yielding To Soft · 14 ran 5/14 9 11-9 9076B100A Shane Fitzgerald 20/1
22 Apr 24+43d Tramore Ladies Day August 17th Maiden Hurdle 16.5f · Yielding · 13 ran 11/13 9 11-4 —36C97C Kevin Sexton 66/1
10 Mar 24+7d Naas Bar One Racing 'Guaranteed Multiples All Shops' Maiden Hurdle 19f · Soft · 21 ran 12/21 1¾ 11-12 —60C106C Shane Fitzgerald 200/1
03 Mar 24+11d Leopardstown Adare Manor Opportunity Maiden Hurdle 16f · Soft · 15 ran BD/15 — 11-8 ——— Niall Prendergast 200/1
21 Feb 24 Punchestown Best Odds Guaranteed At Bet Victor Maiden Hurdle 16.5f · Heavy · 16 ran 14/16 8½ 11-4 —39C95C Shane Fitzgerald 50/1

Quick answers

How many races has Desert Cave (IRE) won?
Desert Cave (IRE) won 1 of 20 archived starts between 2024 and 2026, a strike rate of 5%. Placed 1 time in total (5% of starts).
Who trains Desert Cave (IRE)?
Desert Cave (IRE) is trained by G Ahern, who saddled the horse on its most recent run on 23 July 2026.
Who is Desert Cave (IRE)'s sire?
Desert Cave (IRE) is by Court Cave (IRE) out of Big Hill (IRE), whose sire is Beat All.
What going does Desert Cave (IRE) prefer?
Desert Cave (IRE) has the best record on good to soft going: 1 win from 5 starts (20%). Only going bands with at least three archived starts are read, so this is a direction rather than a settled preference.
What is Desert Cave (IRE)'s official rating?
The most recent official rating on record is 98, from the run on 23 July 2026. The highest on record is 119.
What is Desert Cave (IRE)'s sire's record?
Court Cave (IRE)'s progeny in our archive have won 10.1% of 7,925 runs since Jan 2008 (551 horses), Flat and jumps together. Weakest on heavy going: 6.9% from 934.

Record shown from February 2024. Our archive holds racing in Great Britain, Ireland and France from January 2005. Runs in other countries are not in it, and earlier runs are not available from our data provider. In-running comments are available from 2024 onward.