Deluca Chop

That win came at Dundalk on 24 February 2023, and it remains the only one. Across 29 races, Deluca Chop has won just 1 — roughly 1 in every 29 outings, or a win rate of around 3%. That sounds stark, but the eight places tell a more nuanced story: this is a horse that regularly finds itself involved at the finish, just not quite at the front of it. Think of it like a footballer who keeps getting into great positions but can't find the back of the net. The quality is there; the finishing touch has proven elusive.

The best version of Deluca Chop tends to emerge over longer distances — between a mile and three furlongs and a mile and four furlongs. In seven races at those trips, the horse has won once, a win rate of 14%, which works out to roughly 1 in 7. In a career with only one win total, the fact that it came at this specific distance range is meaningful. Strip it back to shorter or longer and the form thins out further.

The last six runs tell the story of where things stand right now: a sequence reading 2-3-3-2-3-8 shows consistent placing without a win, with that most recent eighth place the one small blip in an otherwise competitive stretch. Shane Foley, who has ridden the horse six times, is yet to land a winner together — 0 from 6 — though the frequency of their partnership suggests the yard clearly rates the combination worth persisting with.

Raced just one day ago and still active, Deluca Chop has now gone 39 months since that Dundalk victory. The places keep coming, the wins don't. At seven, time is not unlimited — but for a horse still placing regularly and racing this week, there is clearly still something worth running for.