The Border Boy

What makes the Cork win stand out is that it's the only one. Not because it happened at a particular track or against particularly stiff opposition, but simply because it happened at all. For a horse who had run so many times without getting his head in front, that day at Cork represents the high point of an entire career. His recent form — finishing 9th, 3rd, 6th, 3rd, 8th and 14th across his last six races — shows a horse who occasionally gets close but more often finds himself well beaten. He raced just yesterday, which tells you at least that he's sound and still in work.

His most regular partner in the saddle has been jockey Sean O'Keeffe, who has ridden him in 10 of his races without the two of them finding the winner's enclosure together. That's not a knock on either of them — some combinations just don't quite click, and with a horse whose overall record is one win from 23, the numbers were always going to be stacked against them. Trainer Sean Aherne, based at Conna in County Cork, has sent out five winners this season, so the yard is clearly capable of getting horses to win. The Border Boy, for his part, has just made it rather difficult.

At nine, he's not a young horse with a future to project onto. What you see is largely what you get — a consistent competitor who shows up, gives his effort, and occasionally (very occasionally) surprises you. That one win at Cork is the story of his career in miniature: most of the time it doesn't happen, but sometimes it does, and that's enough to keep him in training and keep his the yard turning up hopeful.