O'Sullivan delight as Head Count lands emotional comeback win

Last year's Cesarewitch finalist thrills owner Wheeler

Barry O'Sullivan admitted to having a tear in his eye as Head Count made an incredible return to the track after nine months on the sidelines when winning an A1 at Central Park on Tuesday. 

In what must rank as an early shout for training performance of the year, 2025 Arc Cesarewitch finalist Head Count came through powerfully to grab longtime leader Hollybanks for a sensational comeback victory in a top-grade contest over 491m. 

"I'll be truthful, I had to wipe away a tear - maybe a few more!" said Central Park handler O'Sullivan who, along with the team at his Fawkham kennels in Kent, has guided the November 2022 daughter of Ballymac Anton and Mixed Model back from a chipped bone at the back of a wrist. 

"It's usually a career-ending injury but it was quite high up and we were told there might be chance over time," said O'Sullivan. 

"There was no pressure, of course, and certainly no rush, so we left her off eight months, but you could see her getting stronger in the paddock and field, and with the walks, and she came through trials well. 

"Even so, to do what she's done is amazing. She's the best bitch I've trained and, as much as I'm delighted for her and us as a family, I'm also delighted for her owner Mark Wheeler. He's been with us some 30 years and we were all so gutted when the injury happened. But she's come back and anything else is a bonus. 

"She'll have plenty of time between races now and it's one race at a time." 

A 550yd Limerick winner before joining O'Sullivan, Head Count made a winning UK debut at Central Park in October 2024. A winner of 17 races from 30 starts, Head Count ran second to Emmybell Boy in the final of the 2024 BetGoodwin Series Maiden Stayers at Oxford as well as reaching the final of the Arc Cesarewitch on home soil a few weeks later behind Garfiney Blaze. 

Also a winner over 712m at Towcester, Head Count had been very much a standing dish over 491m and 664m at Central Park prior to injury, with two Category Three wins at the Sittingbourne venue on her record before the setback. 

But she is back now - and how.