Artavian

Trained by Patrick Chamings at his yard in Baughurst, Hampshire, Artavian is part of a stable that has sent out 9 winners this season — a decent return that shows Chamings knows how to get horses ready to perform. Artavian has not always repaid that preparation with a win, but he races regularly and clearly stays in good enough shape to keep turning up. He raced just yesterday, which says something about his soundness at least.

His best distance is somewhere between a mile and three furlongs and a mile and four furlongs — that is roughly one and a half miles, a proper test of stamina rather than pure speed. He has run 11 times at that kind of trip and won once, a win rate of around 1 in 11, or just under 10%. That is modest, but it is also where his only career victory came, so it remains his window of opportunity. The majority of his races have been at Class 5 level, which is the bread-and-butter end of British racing — competitive enough, but not the big occasions. He has yet to win at that level from 9 attempts, which is a puzzling record given that Class 5 is where horses like Artavian are supposed to find their feet.

His recent form reads 6-3-7-2-9-9, which is a mixed picture. The third and second in there show moments of promise, but the back-to-back nines suggest some difficult days as well. It is now 21 months since that Windsor win, which by any measure is a long drought. For those following Artavian, the hope is that the conditions click into place again the way they did that October afternoon — but on current evidence, winning races remains the exception rather than the rule for this horse.