Fairlawn Skipper

That win at Stratford is the centrepiece of the story so far. It remains the only victory on the record, and it came nearly eleven months ago now. Since then, Fairlawn Skipper has posted a sequence of 2-3-3-3-4-9 — placed three times in a row before that encouraging second place, then a stumble to ninth most recently. The placings suggest a horse that travels well and stays involved in races; the 9 suggests there might be days when things just don't click. Raced at the Class 4 level — solid, competitive racing without being the very top tier — the horse has gone 0 from 5 at that grade, which is the honest truth of where things stand.

The trainer is Mickey Bowen, based in Haverfordwest in Pembrokeshire — a yard that has sent out 51 winners this season, which is a genuinely productive output and tells you this is an operation that knows what it is doing. Fairlawn Skipper raced just one day ago, so the team clearly believes there's more to come. At six years old, there's still time to add to that solitary win. The question is whether a change of track, conditions, or class might be the key to unlocking it.