Tardaff

What makes those near-misses worth noting is the level at which they came. Tardaff has raced primarily at Class 5, which sits towards the lower end of the racing ladder — the kind of races where you would expect a horse with genuine ability to eventually break through. Three attempts at that level without a win raises a fair question about whether this horse can convert promise into a result when it matters. The most recent run, just yesterday, produced a 13th-place finish, which is a sharp step back from those competitive efforts.

The trainer is Ian Williams, based in Worcestershire, and his yard is having a productive season — 96 winners so far is a serious operation that clearly knows how to get horses to win races. When a yard of that quality is sending a horse out repeatedly, it usually means they believe there is a performance waiting to come. Whether Tardaff can finally deliver it is the question worth watching.