Annandale

His partnership with jockey Paul Mulrennan is particularly fruitful. Mulrennan has ridden him to three wins from twenty-one races together, a win rate of fourteen percent—well above Annandale's typical one in ten. The two clearly understand each other, and Mulrennan knows how to get the best from him when it counts. Annandale is trained by Jim Goldie at Uplawmoor in Lanarkshire, a yard that has already sent out eighty-eight winners this season, and he was in his element last June when he won at Hamilton Park—his most recent success, three months back.

What's encouraging about his recent form is its consistency. In his last six races he has picked up three places and two thirds, including a second just four days ago. That's not the record of a horse running out of gas. His trainer has always believed he improves when stepped up in distance, and at eight years old, Annandale is a seasoned campaigner who understands his job. He's active now and raced just yesterday, proof that he still has racing left in him and remains a genuinely useful horse in his territory—nothing flashy, but profitable for anyone who knows where to find him.