P F McEnery

The closest thing to a recurring story in the yard is the partnership with Gaiety Girl, who has raced together with McEnery's operation three times without finding the winner's enclosure. Three chances, three near-misses or worse — it is the kind of record that keeps you hopeful enough to keep trying but offers nothing concrete to show for it yet.

What is worth saying plainly is that simply keeping horses in work, finding owners, and getting runners to the track over four years is not nothing. Most people who attempt to build a training career do not make it this far. The wins will need to come soon to give the whole project momentum, but the story of P F McEnery right now is one of perseverance in a profession that rewards patience — sometimes brutally slowly.