A Wave Of The Sea

The real story of A Wave Of The Sea is his ground preference. On soft or slightly soft ground — the kind of conditions you get in Ireland and Britain during wet winters — he becomes a different proposition. On slightly soft ground especially, he wins roughly 2 out of every 7 races, a figure that sits well above his career average and hints at real ability when the going turns muddy. On anything faster or at the bigger, tougher races, he struggles. He has never won in top-class races, failing in all three attempts at the highest level, and his recent form shows a horse that is hit or miss: a ninth place just three days ago followed by a win before that, then a run of mid-field finishes.

Trained by J P Broderick, A Wave Of The Sea is ridden most often by Simon Torrens, though that partnership has never yielded a win in eleven attempts together. It is the sort of stat that might suggest a mismatch, though without more detail it is hard to say whether that reflects the rider, the horse, or simply bad luck. What matters now is that at ten years old and still active, he remains a consistent campaigner for a modest yard, the kind of horse that supporters back with a shrug and a smile, knowing that sometimes he will turn up and win at a track he loves, and most times he will not.