Currumbin

What makes Currumbin interesting is that Michael Keady's yard at Newmarket clearly knows exactly what this horse needs to succeed. On normal ground conditions, Currumbin wins 2 out of every 12 races — a rate of roughly 17%, which is nearly double its career average. More striking still, when stepped up to longer distances of two miles or more, the horse has won 2 of its last 4 races at that trip. This is not a horse struggling blindly through the handicap ranks; it is a horse with a clear profile. It likes time to settle into a race, it prefers ground that isn't waterlogged or rock-hard, and it runs better when given space to build a rhythm. Most of its wins have come in Class 5 company — the bread and butter of yard life — where it has managed 2 wins from 15 tries, suggesting it is neither a natural front-runner nor a horse that only wins against soft opposition.

The question now is whether Currumbin can rediscover that touch at Worcester or elsewhere. A six-month drought is not catastrophic for a horse at this level, but it is noticeable. If Keady can get it back to longer distances on the right ground before winter sets in, there is every reason to think another win is not far off. The horse clearly has ability; it just needs the pieces to align.