Beorma

What makes Beorma's situation interesting is the contrast with its surroundings. Trainer Dan Skelton, based in Alcester in Warwickshire, is having a remarkable season — 186 winners sent out already, which is the kind of output that puts a yard firmly among the best in the country. Skelton clearly knows how to find a race for a horse and get it to the track in winning form. The fact that Beorma remains winless despite that firepower around it is telling. It has run four times at Class 4 level — a solid, mid-tier grade where most horses of this type are expected to be competitive — and drawn a blank every time.

Beorma raced just three days ago, so it is very much an active runner rather than a project on the back burner. Whether the team persists in search of that elusive first win or reassesses what this horse can realistically achieve is the question. With eight races now in the book and no wins to show for it, the evidence is starting to stack up. Sometimes a horse simply needs time to mature or the right conditions to click — but at seven years old, Beorma is not young, and the window for things to fall into place is narrowing.