Clody Diamond

The recent form makes for mixed reading. A second-place finish earlier in the sequence hinted at real potential, but a seventh and, most recently, a blank run tell a slightly frustrating story. To put it plainly: Clody Diamond has been close enough to smell it without ever grabbing it.

What gives the situation some optimism is who is doing the training. Paul Nolan, based in Enniscorthy in County Wexford, has sent out 25 winners already this season — a genuinely productive yard that clearly knows how to get horses ready to win. A trainer firing at that rate tends to have a plan for every horse in the stable, so it would be no surprise if Nolan is quietly waiting for the right opportunity to slot Clody Diamond into a race where the pieces finally fall into place. The fact that the horse raced just one day ago shows the team is actively looking for that breakthrough rather than letting it drift.

At six years old, Clody Diamond is not short of time, but the clock is ticking in the sense that the window for a first win is best seized sooner rather than later. Horses that find their moment often do so in a burst — and with a trainer hitting 25 winners in a season behind it, Clody Diamond might be closer to that moment than the record suggests.