Crypto Crash

The recent form makes for difficult reading. Looking at the last six races, the horse has posted finishing positions of 14th and 9th among the runs that were completed, with a couple of non-completions thrown in for good measure. Finishing 14th is a long way back in any field, and the gaps in the record do nothing to suggest a horse that is building momentum. Raced just yesterday, so this is very much a current story rather than a historical one.

The partnership with jockey Luke McAteer has been given a genuine chance to click — seven races together is enough of a sample to draw conclusions — and the results show zero wins from those seven rides. That is not necessarily a reflection on either horse or jockey individually, but it is fair to say the combination has not yet found the formula. David Kenneth Budds, who trains the horse from his yard in Reinduff, County Waterford, has had two winners on the board this season, so the operation is capable of getting a horse to the winner's enclosure. Crypto Crash, so far, has not been the one to provide those moments.

What keeps this interesting, in a slightly baffling way, is that three place finishes from 19 races tells you this horse is not simply turning up and finishing last every time. There is something there — just not quite enough of it, not at the right moment. Whether that changes is the open question. At five years old, it is not ancient, and stranger turnarounds have happened. But for now, Crypto Crash remains one of racing's more persistent bridesmaid horses: always somewhere in the race, never quite at the front of it when it matters.