Bali Body

The record reads one win and four places from ten races in total, which works out at roughly one win in every ten. That is a modest return by any measure, and the recent stretch makes for uncomfortable reading: six races without a sniff of victory, which at this stage of a career starts to raise questions about whether that December day at Sandown was the high point rather than a stepping stone. The four places suggest a horse that competes honestly and does not embarrass itself — it has been in and around the action often enough — but placing and winning are very different things.

In the saddle for most of those runs has been Charlie Hammond, who has partnered Bali Body eight times without managing a win together. That is not necessarily a reflection on either horse or jockey — form is form, and no partnership can manufacture wins that are not there. The trainer is Stuart Edmunds, whose yard in Stewkley, Buckinghamshire, has sent out 24 winners this season, so there is clearly ability in that stable. Bali Body just has not been the one delivering it lately.

Most of its races have come at Class 4 level — broadly mid-tier competition in the British racing structure — and it has not won any of the four races it has run at that grade. Racing yesterday means it is still very much part of the yard's active string, which says something about the team's belief that there may be another day worth having. At 11, those days are numbered, but horses of this age can still produce the occasional surprise. The question is whether Sandown in December 2021 was the last chapter or simply the most recent one.