Jaffa Cake

Trained by Ben Pauling at his yard in Naunton, Gloucestershire, Jaffa Cake is at least in good hands. Pauling's operation has sent out 91 winners this season alone, which is a serious number — that is the kind of output that marks a yard firing on all cylinders. The puzzle, then, is that Jaffa Cake hasn't been able to tap into any of that momentum. Its four races at Class 4 level — the kind of races specifically designed to give horses like this a winnable opportunity — have all ended without a victory.

The recent form makes for fairly grim reading. A thirteenth, a fourth, and then a string of pulled-up or unseated runs (marked with dashes) suggest a horse that is either struggling physically or simply finding it very hard to complete its races, let alone win them. Racing just one day ago, Jaffa Cake is clearly still active and still being given chances, which says something about the patience of the team around it. Whether that patience is rewarded any time soon is the question every racing fan following this horse will be asking.