Arnie Moon

The recent form figures tell a mixed story. A third-place finish three runs ago was the highlight, sandwiched between a handful of mid-field efforts and one particularly tough day when it finished twelfth. Most recently, just yesterday, it ran again — so this is a horse very much in active training and being kept busy by its team. Whether that busy schedule helps it find its rhythm or contributes to inconsistency is a question worth watching.

Arnie Moon races mainly at Class 4 level, which represents the bread-and-butter middle tier of British racing — not the glamour events, but competitive enough that winners need to earn it. It has raced four times at that level without winning, which at six years old does raise the question of whether a change of approach might be needed to unlock its potential.

Trainer Joe Tickle operates out of Stoodleigh in Devon, a part of the country not traditionally associated with high-volume racing yards, which makes the team's tally of 20 winners this season a genuinely solid achievement. Tickle clearly knows how to get horses winning, so the patience being shown with Arnie Moon speaks either to real belief in the horse or to a trainer willing to give it every chance to find its feet. For a horse that has yet to win, being kept in work and racing regularly is itself a kind of vote of confidence — the team hasn't given up, and neither, apparently, has Arnie Moon.