Master Dancer

The drought since that Stratford win is now 44 months and counting. The last six runs have produced finishing positions of 9th, 6th, 10th, 9th, 6th, and 3rd — that third place being the closest it has come to recapturing anything. It competes mostly in Class 4 races, which sit in the mid-to-lower tier of British racing, and even there it has managed just that single win from 9 attempts, a rate of 11% or roughly 1 in 9.

Harry Bannister is the jockey most associated with Master Dancer, riding in 12 of its races together and winning once — an 8% win rate, or 1 in every 12 rides. That's a relationship built on familiarity rather than fireworks. The trainer is Richard J Bandey, based in Tadley in Hampshire, a yard that has sent out 14 winners this season — so the operation clearly knows how to get a horse to win. With Master Dancer, it just hasn't happened since autumn 2022.

What keeps a nine-year-old on the track with this kind of record? Horses like this often have owners who simply enjoy the sport, or there may be a hope that the right race and the right day will come together one more time. The Stratford win shows Master Dancer can do it — once, on one specific day, everything clicked. Whether that day comes again is another question entirely.