Achille Des Rocs

The trouble is, that Catterick win is now 18 months in the rearview mirror, and the four races since have brought nothing but blank returns. Two fifth-place finishes followed by two more blanks — the recent form line reads like a story of promise that has stalled. At his level, which is broadly the Class 4 tier where he has done all his best work, a 40% win rate (2 wins from 5 races) is genuinely solid. That is a horse winning 2 in every 5 races at that grade, which is the kind of number that keeps a yard interested. The problem is sustaining it.

He is trained by L J Morgan, a small yard based at Waltham On The Wolds in Leicestershire that has sent out 14 winners this season — a decent return for an operation of its size. That the team keep running Achille Des Rocs, most recently just one day ago, tells you they still believe there is a race to be won with him. Whether the horse can rediscover the form that made December 2024 look so promising is the question worth watching. He has shown he can win at this level. He just needs to show he can do it again.