Mr Mahler

He runs most of his races at Class 5, the entry-level tier of British racing, and has gone 0 from 12 at that level. That is not a horse who keeps being thrown in at the deep end; this is his natural home, and he still cannot win there. That said, he was in action just yesterday, so whatever the team at High Eldwick think of his chances, they clearly have not given up on him.

That yard matters here. Joel Parkinson and Sue Smith have sent out 42 winners this season — that is a yard in form, with horses running well and a clear ability to get results. Mr Mahler has not been one of those winners, but being trained by a yard firing like that is no small thing. Regular jockey Tom Midgley has ridden him six times without a win, and the two of them have yet to find that combination of circumstances that makes everything click.

His recent form — finishing fifth, sixth, fifth, second, fourth, fourth in his last six outings — actually shows a horse who is not disgracing himself. That second place is the closest he has come, and it hints that on the right day, with a slightly weaker field or a bit of fortune, the result could look very different. At eight years old, time is not exactly on his side, but horses have broken losing runs at this age before. For now, Mr Mahler remains the most interesting kind of puzzle in racing: genuinely competitive, stubbornly winless, and still turning up.