Beautiful Things

The recent form makes for uncomfortable reading. In its last six races, the best finish has been sixth, and a ninth and a tenth suggest a horse that is currently running towards the back of the field more often than not. It raced just yesterday, so fatigue is worth considering — though in truth the numbers before that run weren't telling a different story.

Paddy Bradley has stuck with the horse more than anyone, riding it five times together, but the partnership has yet to click — not a single win between them from those five attempts. At some point, loyalty and optimism have to be weighed against results. The fact that Bradley keeps returning suggests the team around the horse still believes there is something to find, but belief needs backing up eventually.

Michael Attwater's yard at Epsom has had a productive season, sending out 25 winners, which shows the stable knows how to get horses ready to win. Beautiful Things, though, has been competing almost exclusively at Class 5 — the lower end of the British racing ladder, where the fields are designed to give horses of modest ability a realistic chance. Eight races at that level, zero wins. That is a difficult record to put a positive spin on. When a horse can't win at the most accessible level available to it, the questions get harder to answer.

There is still time for the story to change — at four years old, it isn't ancient — and trainers do occasionally unlock something in a horse that has been frustrating for a long time. But right now, Beautiful Things is a horse whose name and its racing record make for quite a contrast.