Dc Cogent

The level it operates at — Class 5, which sits near the bottom of the British racing pyramid — means Dc Cogent is competing in races designed for horses that are honest and consistent rather than exceptional. It has run 11 times at that level and won once, which works out to roughly 1 in every 11 attempts, or about 9%. That is a modest return, but the eight places suggest this is a horse that rarely runs badly. It finds a way into the frame more often than it finds the front.

Paul Mulrennan has been the regular partner, riding Dc Cogent in 10 of its 21 races and winning once together — so the pair click about 1 time in every 10, which mirrors the horse's overall record. They know each other well by now, for better or worse. Bryan Smart, who trains from Sutton Bank in North Yorkshire, has had a productive season with 18 winners from his yard, so the operation is in decent form even if this particular horse has not added to the tally since the spring of last year. Dc Cogent raced just yesterday, keeping itself firmly in the mix, and recent form of a third and a third among its last six runs suggests it still has the appetite to compete. It just needs things to fall its way one more time.