Back To Cali

What stands out in the recent form is a degree of consistency that isn't immediately obvious from a blank winner's column. The last six runs include two third-place finishes bookending a couple of blanks and mid-field efforts, suggesting a horse that occasionally finds its best without being able to hold on when it matters most. It raced just yesterday, so there's no dust settling here — this is a horse very much in the thick of its campaign.

Mr A Leahy has ridden Back To Cali in eight of its nine races, which speaks to a settled partnership, even if the scoreboard remains stubbornly empty for the pair. Eight rides together without a win is a long run, and at some point the question becomes whether the combination simply hasn't found the right opportunity yet, or whether this is a horse that finds a way to make things difficult for itself at the crucial moment.

Trainer John Joseph Hanlon operates out of Bagenalstown in County Carlow and has been in decent form this season, sending out 11 winners. That means the yard clearly knows how to get horses to the winner's enclosure — Back To Cali just hasn't been one of them yet. For a horse with Hanlon's backing and a regular jockey partnership already in place, the ingredients for a breakthrough are there. Whether that first win eventually arrives is the question the next few races will start to answer.