Blackjack Magic

The honest part of his profile, though, is that the 31 months since that Wincanton win represent a long wait for another moment like it. His last six runs have returned a string of fourth and fifth places — competitive enough to suggest he hasn't gone backwards, but not quite enough to suggest the winning thread has been found again. Most of his racing at Class 2 level — the second tier of British racing — has drawn a blank, with 0 wins from 8 attempts there. That is not a disaster for a horse operating against quality rivals, but it does mean his best days have tended to come when the conditions and the race have suited him perfectly.

Trainer Anthony Honeyball, whose yard in Dorset has been in fine form this season with 51 winners, clearly still believes there is a good day left in Blackjack Magic. After the Wincanton win he spoke of the horse as almost an afterthought in the race — one they decided to enter on the off-chance — and was genuinely stunned when it came off. More recently, Honeyball has been patient, waiting for softer, wetter ground and eyeing up races like the Rehearsal Chase at Newcastle or a valuable race at Haydock. That kind of selective campaigning suggests a trainer who knows what brings the best out of this horse rather than simply throwing him at anything available.

When Rex Dingle is in the saddle, the partnership has clicked — two wins from five races together, meaning they win 40% of the time, or roughly 2 in every 5 rides. That is a striking number and worth noting if they line up together again. Returning from a short break of 79 days, and with the yard pointing towards the right races on the right ground, there is every reason to think Blackjack Magic has at least one more good performance in him.