Consider it early retirement. At just 8 years old, Who's Counting could have continued in his steeplechase career. He won eight of 38 starts, on the flat and over jumps. One of his wins was a stakes and he placed in several graded hurdle races. But when your trainer/regular jockey is moving back to Ireland and doesn't want to leave you behind, you get your passport in order.

Before a totally unexpected segue into training, Irish native Sean McDermott was a top jockey on the jump circuit. Among his most successful mounts were Scorpiancer (Ire), who won the 2017 Eclipse Award as champion steeplechaser, and future champion Snap Decision, who won three times with McDermott in 2020. When prominent breeder/owner Bob Kinsley passed away from cancer in 2020, his final wishes specified that his stable (even if it shrunk) would continue with McDermott as trainer.

"The horses were really Bob's thing, so all of them were for sale, but I convinced Mrs. Kinsley to hold off," said McDermott of Kinsley's wife Anne. "She gave me a limit of three to keep, and I managed to keep them just because they were of little or no value, but I could see them becoming valuable. Who's Counting was one that was on the list to be given away."

Who's Counting made his racing debut, going 7 furlongs on the dirt, at Laurel Park in January 2021. Dismissed at 101-1 while racing for a $25,000 claiming price, he finished sixth. Fifth for $16,000 in February, third for $20,000 in March, fifth again for $16,000 in April at Pimlico, he emerged in September going a mile on the Laurel turf -- and won at 33-1 while leading all the way.

A homebred for the Kinsleys' South Branch Equine, Who's Counting is by Australian Group 1-winning millionaire Vancouver (Aus) out of the Henrythenavigator mare Counter Measure. McDermott called the young gelding "not the prettiest horse" with a Roman head and plain bay body he had not yet filled out. But he was full of character, extremely kind and intelligent and had a clock in his head; "We swore he could read the time."

In his first start in his 4-year-old season April 23, 2022, Who's Counting won a maiden race over hurdles at Glenwood Park in Middleburg, Va. That day, McDermott was in the saddle. Two starts later, he was back on the flat at Laurel Park finishing second in an allowance under apprentice rider Will Humphrey. They won in the gelding's next start at Colonial Downs July 18, 2022. Three weeks after that at the same track, McDermott was back in the tack and won going 21⁄4 miles over hurdles.

You keeping up? In five starts over less than four months, Who's Counting won once on the flat and twice over hurdles while also finishing second once in each discipline, including a minor hurdle stakes. The success, as well as a second in Far Hills' Harry E. Harris Hurdle in October, earned him a Maryland-bred champion steeplechaser honor, a feat he repeated in 2024.

"So you pick up both conditions. It's difficult to plan on the turf here in America with the rain and whatnot, but his fitness level was always pretty good," said McDermott. "We just had to keep him fresh and happy and ticking over. But he really loved jumping and even for his flat runs, I would pop him over a few hurdles like three days before on the week up to it. Once he'd get up to the back of those hurdles, he'd be humpin' and porpoise-in' and playing with his head. He just loved it."

While the approach might seem unorthodox to some conditioners, it's not an unusual game plan in Ireland or the United Kingdom. And Who's Counting had the mind and temperament for the program.

"If he was sprinting, it would have been difficult to alternate between his flat and jump races. Completely different riding styles, so he'd be running with the choke out and the accelerator down on the flat, and then you'd try to conserve over jumps a little, so it does take a different mentality; not every horse could do it."

McDermott references two races as Who's Counting's most memorable efforts. At Foxfield in Virginia April 27, 2024, they won the Good Night Shirt Stakes. Good Night Shirt's owner, Sonny Via, was on hand that day to present the trophy. McDermott had ridden often for Via and trainer Jack Fisher, so the win was special.

The best race, said McDermott, wasn't actually a win. In the Temple Gwathmey-G2 at Middleburg April 19, 2025, they finished third behind 2024 champion Snap Decision and Abaan, who went on to win the Iroquois Stakes-G1 in his next start.

There is, however, one race McDermott wishes he could get back -- the 2024 Mariann de Tejeda Memorial-G3 at Foxfield.

"We were cantering going to the last. He does have a wild jump in him every now and again, and he saved it that day until the last. I was letting him down to pop because it was in the bag, we were 4 lengths clear. But he just came up and launched. Because it was the last hurdle and the ground was soft, he hit the top of it and we came to a standstill and got second. We couldn't get the momentum back."

McDermott firmly believes Who's Counting could have won a Grade 1 at Saratoga were it not for his aversion to shipping.

"We tried every trick in the book. Timing-wise, we'd ship him in extremely late within the rules. His own water, every option, we looked into it. If he'd met those horses at the hunt-meet tracks he could beat them. But at Saratoga, unfortunately where the Grade 1s were, he wouldn't perform his best. That's why I never sent him to Iroquois or anywhere. He would underperform after the ship."

Who's Counting couldn't have known that a very big ship was in his not-too-distant future. Over the past year, McDermott planned his move back to Ireland along with girlfriend Jennie Pearson.

Included in those plans was Who's Counting.

"He's done a lot for me, ya know? It's not everybody who gets the opportunity to ride and train horses. And he's won eight on the track and a few point-to-points. He's very versatile. He loved training; he loved getting out and about, so I always loved him. He picked up a few minor injuries along the way, but he'd still run through a brick wall even with them. He tried very hard. You'd want him beside you in battle, so I offered to buy him off Mrs. Kinsley and thankfully she accepted."

McDermott vanned Who's Counting to New York in late June to board a plane to Ireland. He went to the barn of Ross O'Sullivan just north of The Curragh. McDermott and Pearson followed June 30. While plans for a second career for the horse aren't finalized, he definitely won't be racing.

"I might do a little bit of eventing," McDermott said.
That being the case, Who's Counting's official race record reads 38-8-7-5 with $349,586 earned. He split the eight wins evenly -- four each on the flat and over jumps. Meanwhile, he and McDermott will be missed stateside. Former jockey Humphrey, who now works as an exercise rider for Graham Motion, carries a soft spot for them.
"He was just such a fun horse to ride in every way," said Humphrey. "A true professional who always gave his all. I loved that horse."