Blue Anthem

The good news lies in the partnership with jockey Billy Loughnane, who has ridden Blue Anthem seven times and won twice — a 29% success rate that is markedly better than the horse's overall record. When the two of them connect, things happen. The trainer, Gerard O'Leary, who runs his yard from Kildare, also knows how to get winners on the board; he has sent out eleven this season alone. The real edge comes on fast, dry ground, where Blue Anthem has won two of four races — a 50% win rate that is genuinely impressive and suggests conditions matter a lot to this horse. In softer, muddy conditions, it struggles badly. The distance window is similarly tight: over distances between seven furlongs and a mile, the horse has won twice from six races, but ask it to go significantly shorter or longer and the form falls away. At Class 5 level, it has managed 2 wins from 8 races.

The puzzle with Blue Anthem is why it has not found its way back to the winner's circle for so long despite these pockets of form. It raced just yesterday, so it is still active and being given opportunities, but the most recent six races show only one top-five finish — a fifth place — which suggests fitness or enthusiasm may have dipped. If the team can find Blue Anthem a race on firm ground, at the right distance, with Loughnane in the saddle, the horse clearly has something left to offer. Until then, it remains a work in progress.