Eskimo Sam

His recent form makes for uncomfortable reading. Finishing second in his sixth-most-recent run was the high point, but since then the numbers have only gone the wrong way — fifth, sixth, eighth, ninth, eighth in the five that followed. That slide from a placed effort back toward the mid-to-rear of the field suggests this is a horse who showed a flash of promise and has struggled to recapture it. At Class 4, which sits in the middle tier of British racing — not the glamour end, but not the bottom rung either — he has run four times without winning, which tells you he has yet to find a race that truly suits him.

What makes Eskimo Sam's story a little more complicated is the yard he comes from. Alastair Ralph, based in Bridgnorth in Shropshire, has sent out 25 winners this season — a solid, productive operation. That context matters, because it means Eskimo Sam's winless record is not simply down to a trainer going through a rough patch. The horses around him are winning; he just has not been one of them. Raced just one day ago, he is clearly still being given opportunities, and that in itself says something — the team evidently believes there is a race out there with his name on it.

Whether that race comes before he gets any older remains the question. At seven, he is no youngster, and horses do not tend to improve dramatically at this stage of their careers. But racing has a way of surprising people, and Eskimo Sam is still turning up, still competing, and still one good day away from finally getting his nose in front.