Beat The Odds

That said, there is context worth holding onto. Beat The Odds raced just one day ago, which means this is a horse in active work and being kept busy by trainer Antony Brittain, whose yard at Warthill in North Yorkshire has sent out 22 winners already this season. That is a healthy, productive operation — Brittain clearly knows how to get horses fit and ready to race, and the fact that he keeps running Beat The Odds suggests he sees something worth persisting with. Trainers at that level of output do not waste entries on horses they have given up on.

The finishing positions are heading in the wrong direction — a 7th became a 6th which became a 9th — but three races is a small sample, and it would be wrong to write off a four-year-old on so little evidence. Some horses simply take time to find their feet, and the right race, the right track, or the right conditions can change the picture quickly. For now, Beat The Odds is one to watch rather than one to back.