Celtic Queen

Her recent form makes for difficult reading. Looking at her last six races, the sequence reads 12-4-7-7-3-6 (most recent last), which tells the story of a horse that has been mostly struggling at the back of the field, with just that one third-place finish offering any encouragement. She raced as recently as yesterday, which means she is firmly in the middle of an active campaign and her trainer clearly hasn't given up on finding the right opportunity.

That trainer is Tim Vaughan, whose yard is tucked away in Aberthin in the Vale of Glamorgan. It's worth noting that the stable is in decent shape this season, having sent out 11 winners — so this isn't a yard that doesn't know how to get a horse to the line first. The fact that Celtic Queen is still looking for her moment isn't down to a lack of know-how around her. She has contested five races at Class 5 level, which is where most horses at her stage would be expected to win if they're going to win at all, and she has drawn a blank in all five. That's the honest reality of where she stands.

Celtic Queen isn't a lost cause — three places from ten races means she turns up and competes — but at six years old, with no wins on the board and a recent run of performances that have mostly seen her finish towards the rear, the clock is starting to tick. Racing fans would describe her as a horse still in search of her moment. Whether that moment arrives depends on Tim Vaughan finding exactly the right race at exactly the right time.