U Asking Me

His record of one win from 21 races is the kind of statistic that tells you everything about a horse who tries hard but lacks that extra gear the best performers possess. He is not a total non-competitor — places come regularly enough to show he is competitive at his level — but wins are a rarity. When they do come, they tend to rely on specific conditions or opposition. Hugh Morgan, his most frequent rider, has fared better aboard him than most: two wins from five races together represents a 40% win rate that is genuinely promising, though the sample is small. More recently, the pair have not managed the same trick, and U Asking Me was last seen in action just a day ago, still very much in active service.

Trained by Eoin Doyle at Mooncoin in County Kilkenny, U Asking Me races out of a modest yard that has managed two winners this season. At nine years old, he is a veteran of the lower rungs, and the gap of 23 months since his only victory is telling — it suggests a horse who has had plenty of chances to repeat the feat but has not quite managed it. He remains active, though, which says something for his durability and his the yard' belief that another chance might still come.