Gemini Star

The Newmarket yard of Julia and Shelley Birkett has kept faith with her. When Gemini Star was younger, the trainers described her as progressive, a horse that would improve with experience. She showed promise early: that debut win at Thirsk came in a race for first-time winners, and a run at Nottingham months later saw her beaten by only three-quarters of a length in a handicap, though she had to contend with a punishing, undulating track on the way. She thrives on softer, wetter ground — the kind that lets her get a proper grip — though the trainers suggest she is not limited by it. At Class 5 level, where most of her racing happens, she has won once in ten attempts (10 percent), showing she can mix it when the field and conditions align.

Her record with regular jockey Kieran O'Neill tells its own story: one win from twelve rides together, a partnership that has not yet found the consistency either might hope for. Her most recent six races have brought nothing but places and unplaced runs, with a second-place finish at her last outing just a day ago — close enough to suggest she still has racing left in her, but far enough to confirm the gap between running well and winning has only widened. At six, Gemini Star is neither young nor old in racing terms, but those forty-two months without a win represent a phase of her career that, for now, remains firmly in the rearview mirror.