Raffles Nobu

Trained by Nick Scholfield at Lambourn in Berkshire, Raffles Nobu is part of a yard that has clearly been in decent shape this season — 19 winners is a healthy total, which tells you the team knows how to get horses ready to win. That makes Raffles Nobu something of an outlier in the stable at the moment. The horse has been kept busy at Class 4 level, which sits in the middle of the racing ladder — not the very bottom, but not the big occasions either — and has gone winless in all five attempts at that level. Finding a race that fits just right has been the challenge.

What is worth noting is that Raffles Nobu raced just yesterday, so this is an active, fit horse still being campaigned with purpose. Scholfield and the team clearly believe there is a race to be won somewhere, and at six years old there is still time. Whether that faith is rewarded is the question this horse has been posing for a while now — and so far, it hasn't given a clear answer.