Brave Lady

It is a pattern that frustrates. Horses that finish second and third regularly are often doing everything right except for the final jump or the final furlong, where another runner gets the better of them. Brave Lady appears to be one of those: capable enough to earn places, tough enough to stay there, but unable to find that extra something needed to win. She has earned six places from eight races without a victory, which means she has visited the winner's circle or the runner-up spot in 75 percent of her races — a high win rate for finishing in the frame, even if it comes with zero wins.

Trained by Peter Fahey at Monasterevín in County Kildare, Brave Lady runs for a yard that has already sent out 14 winners this season. Fahey knows how to train a winner, so the fact that Brave Lady remains without a victory after eight tries suggests the fault may lie in the level she is racing at, or the type of race that suits her. At five years old, she is not young, but she is still active — she was out just yesterday — and there is time yet for her to break her duck. Whether she will is another matter.