Sidiriya

That single win came at Galway back in September 2022, now 45 months ago, and it remains the high point of a career that has been defined more by places than victories. Three placings in total suggest Sidiriya is no back-marker — it shows up, it runs its race, it just doesn't often win it. The recent form reads 3-6-13-3-8-11, which is a mixed picture: those two third-place finishes in there show the ability is still present, but the 13th tells you things can go sideways too.

Simon Torrens has been the regular partner, teaming up eight times without finding the winner's enclosure together — 0 from 8 is a tough run, though that's as much a reflection of Sidiriya's general record as anything specific to the combination. P J Rothwell trains the horse from a yard in Tinahely, Co Wicklow, and the operation is clearly in decent health this season — 35 winners sent out is a solid return for any yard. Sidiriya, though, hasn't been one of them.

What's perhaps most striking is how recently this horse ran — just one day ago — which means Rothwell is clearly still finding opportunities and believing there's something worth running for. At 7 years old with a long winless stretch stretching back nearly four years, that persistence says something. Whether Sidiriya can end that drought and add a second chapter to the Galway story remains to be seen.