Act Of Violence

The horse's first win came at Catterick Bridge in September 2023, and a second followed at Ripon in July 2024. Since then, though, it has gone 24 months without finding the winner's enclosure, and the last six results — a string of mid-to-back-of-field finishes — tell the story of a horse that is currently finding things tough. The most recent run was just yesterday, which means Act Of Violence is being kept busy, but the recent form figures of 4-8-6-9-6-4 suggest it has not quite clicked into gear.

Most of its racing has come at Class 5 level, which is the bread-and-butter tier of British racing — competitive enough, but a long way from the top. At that level, it has won 1 from 7 races, or about 1 in 7, which is actually a reasonable return given its overall record. Regular jockey David Allan has partnered the horse nine times for that single win together, a win rate of around 11%, or just over 1 in 9.

The trainer is David Loughnane, based in Stoke Heath in Shropshire, and his yard has been in fine form this season with 39 winners sent out — so this is clearly an operation that knows how to get a horse ready to win. Act Of Violence might not be the yard's star, but with a busy training operation firing on all cylinders behind it, there is at least a solid support structure in place if a change of fortune is coming.

Whether that change arrives soon is the question. Two years without a win is a long time in racing, and the recent form offers little obvious cause for optimism. But Act Of Violence is still only five, still racing regularly, and is trained by someone having a productive season. Horses have come back from longer droughts than this.