Doctor Elvis

The seven-year-old has placed in six of those nine races, meaning he has finished in the top positions more often than not without ever quite getting his nose in front. His recent form tells that story in numbers: five of his last six outings have produced a second or fourth place finish, with a blank in the middle. He is the horse that keeps showing up, keeps running well, and keeps getting beaten. For his the yard — trainer Gordon Elliott's team at Longwood in Co Meath — that must be a quietly maddening pattern.

Elliott's yard is one of the most powerful operations in Irish racing, and this season alone they have sent out 210 winners. That context matters: when a horse spends significant time in a yard like that, it is not there by accident. Elliott commented recently that Doctor Elvis had a foot problem that cost him the second half of last season, which explains a gap in that form line. The trainer has since described him as working well and suggested a hurdle race for horses yet to win is coming up on the schedule. In other words, the team still believes in him.

Jack Kennedy, one of the best jump jockeys in Ireland, has ridden Doctor Elvis in all six of his recent races together — zero wins from those six, but Kennedy keeps coming back, which in itself says something. Jockeys of his calibre tend not to waste time on horses they have written off. The combination of a top trainer, a top jockey, and a horse with a consistent placing record but no win yet has the feel of something that could click at any moment. Doctor Elvis raced just yesterday, so he is clearly fit and active. Whether the win finally comes next time out is the question — but everything around him suggests the yard hasn't stopped believing it will.