My Good Pal

What keeps the story interesting is that My Good Pal is clearly not without ability. Six places from 25 races tells you this horse turns up, competes, and finishes in the money often enough to suggest it belongs at this level — it just rarely finds that extra gear when it matters most. The recent form reads 2-5-8-11-3-2, which is a mixed picture: two solid placed efforts bookending a run of disappointing finishes. The horse raced just yesterday, so whatever form it is carrying right now, it is very much a live story.

Mr B M Coonan has partnered the horse most often, riding it in 14 of its 25 races for that one win together — so about 1 in every 14 rides has produced a victory. That is a modest return, though it should be said that finding winners with a horse like this is never straightforward. Trainer Gavin Cromwell, meanwhile, is clearly operating at a high level this season — 97 winners from his yard is a genuinely impressive number and marks him as one of the more productive trainers around. That My Good Pal has not added to Cromwell's tally in nine months simply reflects the reality that not every horse in a busy yard is a star, and some are there to keep running, keep competing, and keep trying to find their moment.