Eastern Shores

The recent form makes the frustration easy to see. In its last six races the results read 3-3-2-5-6-7 (working back from the most recent), meaning it was knocking on the door in three of those before form started to fade. That second place will be the one that stings — close enough to touch but not close enough to count. Eastern Shores raced just yesterday, so it is very much in the thick of things right now.

Jonathan Burke has been the regular partner for most of this journey, riding Eastern Shores in eight of its ten races without a win between them. That is not necessarily a mark against either horse or jockey — sometimes a partnership just needs the right day to click — but eight attempts is a long run without reward and will naturally raise questions about whether the combination can unlock something new.

The trainer is Fergal O'Brien, whose yard in Withington, Gloucestershire, has been in serious form this season, sending out 90 winners — a number that reflects a well-organised, high-functioning operation. O'Brien clearly knows how to get horses winning, which makes Eastern Shores something of an outlier in the stable. At Class 4 level — the middle tier of British racing, competitive enough to be meaningful — the horse has run five times and still not won. That is the puzzle O'Brien and the team need to solve.

At six years old, Eastern Shores is not young. Time is not running out exactly, but it is not standing still either. The talent to place consistently is clearly there. Whether that translates into a first win before the season is out is the question worth following.