Diamond Bay

The most interesting corner of Diamond Bay's record is Wolverhampton. Two wins from 9 races there might not leap off the page, but winning at the same track twice when you've only managed 6 wins in your entire career means Wolverhampton accounts for a third of Diamond Bay's lifetime success. Something about that all-weather surface and tight track layout clearly suits this horse, and it's the kind of stat a savvy punter would quietly file away.

Tom Ward's yard at Upper Lambourn has been in good form this season — 14 winners sent out already — and Diamond Bay remains part of those plans, having raced as recently as yesterday. The regular partnership with jockey Sean Levey has produced 2 wins from 12 races together, which works out at roughly 1 in every 6 rides — a noticeably better return than Diamond Bay's overall average, suggesting the two have found a rhythm that works.

The most recent win came at Goodwood on 2 May last year, and that 12-month drought will be the obvious question mark heading forward. Recent form reads 7-6-14-3-4-2 — nothing dramatic either way, but that second-place finish in the most recent run keeps the picture alive. Diamond Bay tends to show its best over a mile and three or four furlongs, where it has won 1 from 4 races, a 25% win rate that makes it nearly 1 in every 4 — comfortably its strongest distance bracket. If the yard can manoeuvre Diamond Bay into the right race at the right trip, particularly back at Wolverhampton, there's every reason to think a seventh career win is closer than the recent run of results suggests.