Corniche Girl

What stands out about her current form is the consistency without the killer blow. Her last six runs read 3-3-blank-blank-4-4 going backwards through time, and she has not won in any of them. She is placing, she is there or thereabouts, but she has not been able to turn those efforts into a victory in the ten months since Kempton. That is the story of a horse running at a level where she can compete but not dominate — and that level is typically Class 5, which sits towards the lower end of the racing ladder. In 7 races at that grade, she has not won once, which suggests the competition there is stiff enough to keep her honest.

She is trained by Richard Hannon at his yard in Wiltshire, one of the busiest and most successful operations in Britain. With 118 winners already this season, Hannon's team clearly know how to get horses ready to win — so when Corniche Girl finds her moment, she will have every advantage behind her. Her regular partner in the saddle is Sean Levey, who has ridden her in 9 of her 18 races and was aboard for that Kempton win. Between them they have won 1 from 9 together, roughly 1 in every 9 rides, which is modest but at least shows the partnership has produced results.

She raced just yesterday, which means she is bang in form and being kept busy. At three years old, she is still developing, and horses at this age can improve sharply over the summer months. The task for the Hannon yard is finding the right race — the right conditions, the right track — to unlock another win. Kempton proved it is possible. The question is whether they can find that combination again before the season is out.