Take Stock

The overall numbers tell the honest story of a horse still building its CV: one win and two places from seven races, a win rate of around 1 in 7. That's modest, but seven races at five years old is still a relatively short career, and horses often take time to find their best. What matters more is that the trajectory has been moving in the right direction.

The yard behind Take Stock gives plenty of cause for optimism. Gavin Cromwell has sent out 98 winners already this season — that's a training operation running at serious speed, and horses in his care tend to be placed with care and patience. When Cromwell's string clicks, it clicks hard, and Take Stock landing that Bellewstown win suggests the team found the right race at the right moment. The horse raced just one day ago, so wherever it goes next, it heads there on the back of a confidence-boosting result and in the hands of one of the more in-form yards around.