Bluesy Moon

What makes it more puzzling is that Bluesy Moon isn't out of its depth in terms of company. Class 6 is the entry level of British racing — these are races designed to give horses exactly like this one every possible chance to break through. Yet across 12 races at that level, the winning moment has never arrived. The most recent run, just yesterday, tells the same story: a ninth-place finish, the latest in a sequence that reads 9-10-9-7-4-8 going back six races. That fourth place is the closest thing to a glimmer — competitive, at least — but it hasn't been followed up.

Jockey Gina Mangan has had five rides on Bluesy Moon and is yet to get a tune out of the horse, while trainer Michael Attwater's yard at Epsom has been in decent enough form this season with 25 winners. The problem clearly isn't the operation — Attwater knows what he's doing. Bluesy Moon is simply a horse that keeps showing up and keeps finishing mid-pack, the racing equivalent of a footballer who trains well all week and then goes quiet on match day.

There will be people who look at this record and write the horse off entirely. But two places from 17 races does suggest Bluesy Moon has had moments of genuine competitiveness — it's not simply being lapped. At four years old, there's still time. The team will be hoping that one small thing clicks into place: the right conditions, the right draw, the right day. Until then, Bluesy Moon remains one of racing's more stubborn puzzles — a horse that keeps turning up, keeps trying, and keeps making its followers wait.