Another Day Out

At eight years old, Another Day Out is an experienced, battle-hardened campaigner. It has placed 12 times without winning — finishing second, third, or fourth — which tells you this is a horse that competes honestly and rarely has a bad day. The recent form makes for interesting reading: a win sandwiched between some quieter efforts, suggesting it peaks when everything clicks rather than dominating week after week. With a race just yesterday, it is very much in active training and clearly being kept busy by Martin Keighley's yard in Gloucestershire, which has been in strong form this season with 19 winners already sent out.

The ground matters too. On slightly soft, wet conditions, Another Day Out has won 2 of 7 races — nearly 1 in 3, which is a dramatically better return than its overall win rate of around 1 in 7. When there has been a bit of rain and the track has some give in it, this horse is a genuinely different proposition. Keighley and his team will be watching the weather forecast carefully.

Jockey James Best has been the regular partner, riding the horse in 14 of its 27 races and winning twice together. That is a win rate of roughly 1 in 7 — exactly in line with the horse's career average — but the partnership clearly has a level of familiarity and trust that counts for something in the weighing room. Best knows what he is sitting on, and Another Day Out knows who is steering. At Class 4, the level where it races most often, it has won just 1 from 11, which is where the horse's limits become visible — but at its favourite track, on a soft day, those limits have a habit of disappearing.