Book Of Life

What makes Book of Life genuinely curious is the gap between its consistency and its inability to get its head in front. Ten places from 31 races tells you this is not a horse that gets beaten out of sight — it competes, it hangs around, it finishes second and third. But converting that into wins has proven elusive. Its strongest distance range is around a mile to a mile and a quarter, where it has won 1 from 18 races. That sounds modest, but it means this is where trainers and jockeys keep sending it, which itself is a clue that it performs better there than anywhere else.

Patrick Morris, based in Prescott on Merseyside, trains the horse. His yard has sent out 22 winners this season, so there is genuine ability in the operation. Regular rider Ryan Kavanagh has been aboard eight times without a win together — though given the horse's overall record, that is less a reflection on Kavanagh and more a reflection on just how rare Book of Life's winning moments are. The most recent form figures — 4-2-3-4-2-6 — show a horse that keeps threading into contention without quite finishing the job.

Book of Life raced just yesterday, which means it is very much an active campaign. Whether that final breakthrough comes again is the question. It has been 15 months since Wolverhampton, and the gap is starting to feel significant. But for a horse that finishes in the top three or four so regularly, it would be unwise to write it off entirely. Sometimes the story is still being written — this one just takes its time turning the pages.