Artiste d'Ainay

The recent form tells a familiar tale. Over the last six races, Artiste d'Ainay has finished fifth twice, third twice, and second once — the kind of sequence that would frustrate any owner. Second place hurts most of all in racing: close enough to touch it, but nothing to show for it. A horse placing regularly at Class 4 — which is mid-table in British racing's pecking order — without converting a single one of those six chances is a puzzle worth noticing. At that level, winners are there to be taken.

Billy Aprahamian trains the horse from his yard in Towcester, Northamptonshire, and his team has had a productive season with twelve winners already sent out. That suggests Aprahamian knows how to get a horse into the winner's enclosure — which makes Artiste d'Ainay something of an unsolved problem on the yard's books. The horse raced just yesterday, so there's no lack of activity here. Whatever the answer is, Aprahamian is clearly still searching for it.

At eight years old, Artiste d'Ainay isn't a youngster still learning the job. Most horses of this age have their habits set and their best performances behind them. The window for that elusive first win isn't getting any wider — but then again, racing has always loved a story where someone finally breaks through after a long wait.