Contemplation

The recent form figures — 9, 8, 6, 4, 4, 6 — do at least tell a partial story of improvement. Those middle two efforts, finishing fourth on consecutive occasions, represent the high-water mark of a career that hasn't yet delivered a moment to celebrate. Since then, though, the form has drifted back towards the rear of the field. Racing just yesterday, Contemplation remains an active runner, so there are clearly people in the yard who believe there is still something worth chasing.

That yard belongs to Mike Sowersby, based at Little Barugh in North Yorkshire. With eight winners on the board already this season, Sowersby is clearly capable of getting horses to perform — which makes Contemplation something of an outlier in the operation. Whether this horse simply needs more time, a different type of race, or a change of luck is hard to say, but the fact that the team keeps running it suggests patience hasn't run out yet.