Barney's Bay

That Thirsk win remains the defining moment of his career. He's returned to the track 35 months on from that day and hasn't managed to repeat it, finishing in the places 12 times — close enough to matter, never quite close enough to win. His recent form makes sobering reading: his last six runs have produced finishes of 7th, 10th, 5th, 7th, 6th, and 11th, most recently just yesterday, suggesting he's in a spell where even a place finish is proving elusive.

The bulk of his racing — 20 of his 54 starts — has come at Class 6, the lowest rung of British racing. Despite that experience, he hasn't won at that level at all. His best distance range is five to six and a half furlongs, the shorter, sharper end of flat racing, where he's recorded that single win from 23 races at those trips. It's a narrow margin, but it's where he belongs and where any future chance is most likely to come.

David Allan rides him most often, partnering Barney's Bay in 15 of his races for that one shared win — a win rate of around 1 in every 14 times they've gone out together. Derek Shaw, who trains him from his yard in Sproxton, Leicestershire, has sent out six winners this season, so the operation is capable of finding the right opportunity. The question is whether Barney's Bay still has a day like Thirsk left in him. At eight years old, with yesterday's run already behind him, time is the one thing he doesn't have plenty of.