Defying Gravity

The six-year-old is trained by Andrew Hamilton, whose yard has sent out three winners already this season — a modest but meaningful indicator that the operation knows how to get a horse to the line first when the pieces fall right. Whether Defying Gravity can be one of those pieces remains to be seen. Its recent run of form — a fifth, third, and second in its last few outings — at least tells the story of a horse that has been running consistently and finishing close enough to keep the yard optimistic. It raced just yesterday, so it is clearly in a busy spell right now.

At Class 4 level, it sits in the middle tier of the sport — not elite, but a solid, competitive grade where the margins between winning and not winning can be razor thin. It has run three times at that level without a win, which is frustrating but not damning. For a horse still searching for that first victory at six, the clock is ticking — but horses have broken their duck later than this, and the combination of recent placed form and an active campaign suggests the team hasn't given up on the idea.