Inishfallen

What makes that a little frustrating is the company Inishfallen is asked to keep. Five of its career races have been at the top level — Class 1, the sharpest competition British racing offers — and it has not won any of them. That is a tough ask for a horse with one win to its name, though it does speak to a yard that believes in the horse's ability. Stephen Thorne trains out of Rush in County Dublin and has sent out 24 winners already this season, so this is not a struggling operation — they know what they are doing.

Sean Levey has been the regular partner, riding Inishfallen in 9 of its 23 races and winning on it once, meaning the pair have clicked at a rate of roughly 1 in every 9 goes together. Over shorter distances — between five and six and a half furlongs — the horse has found its one win from 15 attempts at that trip, a 7% return that at least suggests the quick, sharp races suit it better than anything longer.

Inishfallen raced just yesterday, so it is very much a current, active runner. But with nearly three years separating it from its only win, the honest picture is of a horse that finds a level but struggles to beat it. The places keep coming, the wins do not. For now, Inishfallen is the kind of runner you respect for its consistency without quite expecting it to land the big moment.