Blow Your Wad

What makes that winless run particularly hard to explain is that Blow Your Wad is, by any measure, a genuinely good performer at Kempton Park. Two wins from just three visits there is an extraordinary return — most horses would be thrilled with one — and it suggests the track suits this horse in a way few others do. The first win came at Kempton in November 2022, and the most recent followed on Boxing Day 2023, also at Kempton. Both victories, and yet the yard has not been able to unlock that same performance since, now 28 months on.

Part of the challenge is the level at which Blow Your Wad competes. Class 1 means the very top tier of British racing — the deepest, most competitive fields on the calendar — and against that standard, the horse has gone 0 from 10. Winning even once at that level is genuinely hard, and the fact that it keeps running there tells you Gary and Josh Moore's yard at Lower Beeding believe this horse belongs in those races. The Moore operation is in excellent form this season, having sent out 93 winners, so they clearly know what they are doing with their horses.

Stan Sheppard has been the jockey of choice, riding Blow Your Wad in 16 of its 21 races and accounting for all three wins — a win rate of 19%, or just under 1 in every 5 rides together, which is a strong partnership number in a sport where 1 in 10 is considered respectable. That continuity of jockey and trainer suggests a settled, patient approach, though patience is being tested. The recent form reads 4-4-3-7-3 over the last six races, which is consistent enough to suggest the horse is still competitive, still placing, still turning up. It just has not found that extra gear since Boxing Day 2023. Whether another trip to its favourite track at Kempton might change that is the obvious next question.