Barrowline

The recent form makes for similarly difficult viewing. Looking back over the last six runs, the best finishing position recorded is fifth, with an eighth and a twelfth filling out the picture alongside three blank returns. There is no obvious upward curve here, no sign that things are quietly coming together. Barrowline raced just one day ago, so the yard — sorry, so the team are clearly keeping the horse busy and looking for opportunities, which at least suggests belief that a breakthrough is possible.

Donncha Duggan trains out of Kilfinane in County Limerick, a yard that has sent out three winners already this season. That is a small but meaningful number — it tells you this is not a yard simply going through the motions. Duggan finds winners when the horse is good enough, which perhaps makes Barrowline's record more of a puzzle than an indictment of the operation around it.

At six years old, Barrowline is no longer a young horse with time on its side. Patience from the yard is clear, but the window for that first win to arrive is not unlimited. Whether it comes depends on finding the right race on the right day — something that has, so far, proved elusive.