Counting Cards

The recent form makes for familiar reading. Looking back over the last six races, Counting Cards finished second on one occasion, then followed that with a string of mid-pack finishes — fourth, seventh, ninth — before being pulled up in one run and finishing eighth in the most recent outing, just yesterday. That second place is the tantalising detail: the ability to compete is clearly there, but converting it into a win has so far proved elusive.

Callum Rodriguez has been the regular partner, riding the horse in six of its nine races together, and the pair are still searching for that first win as a combination. That is not necessarily a criticism of either horse or jockey — some partnerships take time to click, and Rodriguez is an experienced rider who knows what he is working with. Trainer Ed de Giles, based at Ledbury in Herefordshire, has sent out eight winners this season, so the yard is clearly capable of getting horses into the winner's enclosure. The question is when Counting Cards will join that list.

Competing at Class 4 level — the mid-tier of British racing, not the glamour end but genuinely competitive — Counting Cards has run three races at that level without a win. That is the bracket where a horse like this needs to prove itself before the yard can think about stepping up. Right now, it is a horse that promises more than it delivers, which in racing is either deeply frustrating or the sign that the right race simply hasn't come along yet. At four years old, there is still time to find out which.