Cool Summer

The recent form makes for tough reading. Looking at the last six races, the sequence reads 7-3-8-14-6-6 in chronological order, with that third-place finish the one moment of encouragement in an otherwise frustrating run. The 14th-place finish in particular suggests a rough day at the office, and a win rate of zero from nine races is genuinely hard to spin positively. Most horses at this level would be expected to have broken their duck well before now.

Miss McLoughlin's yard has sent out two winners this season, so the operation is clearly capable of getting a horse to the front. Cool Summer, however, has not been among them. Raced just yesterday, the horse remains active and in work, which at least suggests the yard — the team — still believe there is a race to be won somewhere. Whether that day comes remains the biggest open question surrounding this horse.