Knockeranna Rose

Her recent form makes for interesting reading. In her last six races she has posted 4-2-3-8-4-8, which means two near-misses mixed in with a couple of difficult days. The second and third place finishes show she can get into a race and threaten; the eighth place results suggest there are days when things just do not click. She raced just yesterday, so she is clearly a horse who is kept busy and in a routine.

Jockey Conor Rabbitt has been her regular partner, riding her in nine of her 12 races together without a win to show for it. That is a long partnership to build without a breakthrough, though the consistency of booking suggests the team believes the combination is right — they just need the day when everything falls into place. Susan Corbett, who trains her from a yard in Otterburn, Northumberland, has sent out 11 winners this season, so the stable clearly knows how to get a horse to win. Knockeranna Rose has mostly competed at Class 4 level — solidly mid-table British racing, neither the glamour end nor the bottom rung — and has gone winless in all six races at that level.

At six years old, she is at a good age and has plenty of racing left in her. The pieces are not obviously missing — she places, she competes, she keeps a busy schedule under a trainer with a productive season. For anyone who follows her, the fascination is less about whether she can win and more about when. The form says she gets close. Racing being what it is, that first win might be closer than her record suggests.