Tory Hill

The recent record makes for tough reading. Looking at the last six runs, Tory Hill has finished second on one occasion and out of the places on the other five, including a seventh-place finish six races back. There have been no signs of a breakthrough coming — no creeping improvement, no consistent placed runs to suggest a win is just around the corner. The horse raced just one day ago, so it is very much still in active service, and the team at George Bewley's yard in Colby, Cumbria, clearly believe there is still a race to be won with it.

George Bewley has sent out seven winners this season, so the yard is not short of ability, and Tory Hill's struggles feel more like a puzzle than a reflection of the stable's quality. Jonathon Bewley has been the regular rider, partnering Tory Hill in six of its nine races without managing a win — though in fairness, that says more about the horse's current limitations than the jockey's. The pair have become well-acquainted with each other, even if the scoreboard has stayed stubbornly blank.

The horse typically competes at Class 5, which is the entry level of British racing — the kind of races designed to give horses exactly like Tory Hill a chance to win. And yet, across four races at that level, the winning opportunity has not materialised. That is the most telling detail of all. When a horse cannot win at the easiest level available to it, you start to wonder whether a win will ever come. That said, Tory Hill keeps getting entries and keeps showing up — and in racing, as in life, you cannot win if you are not in the race.