Bullington Bry

The recent form tells a familiar story. Looking back at the last six outings, the figures read 4-5-7-4-7-10, which shows a horse that can occasionally get involved but just as often trails home in the second half of the field. A fourth place is respectable; a tenth less so. There is no obvious upward curve here, which is the thing a trainer most wants to see at this stage of a horse's development.

Ramsden's yard has sent out five winners so far this season, so this is not an operation that struggles to get horses to win — which only sharpens the question of when, or whether, Bullington Bry will manage to do the same. The horse has run nine times at the lowest level of British racing, Class 6, and has come away empty-handed every time. That is the tier where horses are expected to find opportunities, and going nine races at that level without winning is a significant ask of anyone's optimism.

Still, the horse raced just yesterday and is clearly being kept busy, which suggests the team has not given up. Sometimes horses simply need the right conditions, the right day, the right race to click into place. Bullington Bry has not found that combination yet across 21 attempts, but the fact it keeps placing — seven times in all — means there is at least some ability to show. Whether it is ever quite enough to win is the question that, for now, remains unanswered.