Cactus

The recent form makes for difficult reading. In the last six races, the best finish has been fourth, with a string of double-figure placings either side of it — tenth, twelfth, thirteenth. That fourth place suggests there is some ability there, but the performances around it tell a different story. Finishing twelfth or thirteenth in a field typically means trailing well off the pace, and doing it repeatedly is a pattern, not a coincidence.

Wayne Lordan has been in the saddle for five of those 12 races and has yet to get a win out of the partnership. That is not necessarily a criticism of either horse or jockey — sometimes a combination just does not click, and the decision about whether to stick or change will rest with the trainer.

That trainer is Aidan P O'Brien, one of the most celebrated names in racing, operating out of a yard in Cashel, County Tipperary that has sent out 125 winners already this season. That is a remarkable number — it means O'Brien's team is producing winners at a relentless pace. The fact that Cactus has not been among them is telling. In a yard that good, horses that cannot win tend not to stay in training forever, which makes the next few runs rather important for this horse's future.

Cactus raced just yesterday, so it is very much in the mix for now. But with no wins from 12 races and a recent run of form that offers little encouragement, it will need to find something it has not shown yet to make its mark.