Chartwell Jock

That Wolverhampton win came over a mile and a furlong, and it is at that sort of trip — between a mile and a mile and two furlongs — where Chartwell Jock looks most dangerous. He has won 1 from 3 races at those distances, which is a far more encouraging picture than his overall record suggests. The problem is that he has typically been asked to compete in Class 3 races, some of the better races in the calendar below the top tier, and there he has drawn a blank in four attempts. The gap between the level he can win at and the level he is being asked to compete at is the central tension in his story right now.

His recent form — finishing sixth, then thirteenth, then fourth, before a fall, a ninth, and a third in his last six runs — is patchy at best. But there is at least one performance in that sequence worth understanding rather than dismissing. At Kempton, Chartwell Jock fell at a hurdle after reportedly being distracted by a stricken horse from another yard that had come down fatally at the last. His jockey Dan Sansom reported that the horse was looking at the animal on the ground rather than focusing on the jump ahead. It was an unfortunate end to what trainer Seamus Mullins felt was a decent effort in the making.

Mullins trains out of Wilsford-Cum-Lake in Wiltshire and has sent out 10 winners this season — a yard quietly ticking along. He clearly has some belief left in Chartwell Jock, with the horse entered at Cheltenham for a Triumph Hurdle trial, which is a significant test. Cheltenham is the sport's most demanding stage, and pitching a horse there when confidence needs rebuilding is a bold call. Whether Chartwell Jock is ready to rise to that occasion, or whether he needs a softer opportunity to rediscover his winning thread, is the question his team will be weighing up right now.