Blue Orbit

The troubling part of Blue Orbit's recent record is the length of time since that Goodwood win. It has now gone thirteen months without returning to the winner's circle, a drought that spans six consecutive races. Its last six outings read: sixth, fourth, fifth, tenth, fourth, and second. That second-place finish came just yesterday, so the horse remains active and still competing, but the lack of a win in over a year raises questions about whether Goodwood was a one-off moment or whether something has shifted. Trained by Dr Richard Newland and Jamie Insole at Elmbridge in Worcestershire, Blue Orbit runs for a yard that has been sending out winners regularly this season — 49 of them — so the problem is not the training ground. This is a horse capable of reaching the winner's circle, as it proved, but currently unable to find its way back there often enough to be considered genuinely reliable.