Dark Mandate

The yard doing the work is Eve Johnson Houghton's operation at Blewbury in Oxfordshire, which has been firing this season with 42 winners already. That's a strong training record and suggests Dark Mandate is in capable hands, even if results haven't come yet. At Class 5 level—the lower rungs of British racing—the horse has raced three times without winning, which is where you'd expect to see a breakthrough for a 3-year-old if things were clicking into place. The fact that it hasn't, combined with no wins across all nine races, suggests Dark Mandate may be finding its true level or still maturing into its task. Currently active and having raced as recently as yesterday, the horse is getting plenty of opportunities—which is often what it takes for a young horse to figure things out.