Blue Train

The real story with Blue Train is patience and specificity. He wins roughly 1 in every 3 races (2 of 7) when competing at Class 6 level—the lowest tier of British and Irish racing—which is where he belongs. Stretch him over middle distances of 1 mile 3 furlongs to 1 mile 4 furlongs and he improves markedly, winning 1 of 4 at those trips. His recent form has been patchy. He finished ninth in his last race, then fifth and first, but a run of ninth, seventh and fourth before that shows how unreliable he can be. The partnership with his most frequent jockey, Neil Callan, has produced nothing from five attempts, which may be worth monitoring—sometimes a change of rider sharpens a horse up, and sometimes it just highlights that the horse isn't quite good enough.

At 4 years old and with three wins under his belt, Blue Train is unlikely to climb much higher than where he is now. But for a yard turning out 26 winners this season, he is honest enough—the kind of horse that will pop up in a Class 6 race over the right distance and give you a decent run at fair odds.