Diamond Ali

The recent form figures tell an interesting story. A run of 7-8-7-2-4-16 shows a horse that briefly looked like it might be finding something — that second place is a real bright spot in an otherwise difficult sequence — but the momentum didn't carry forward. The 16 is the one that raises an eyebrow; finishing last or near last in any race is the kind of result that sends trainers back to the drawing board.

Dylan Hogan has been in the saddle for six of those eight races and is yet to get Diamond Ali into the winner's enclosure. That's a long partnership without a breakthrough, though it does suggest the team at Newmarket have faith that continuity and familiarity might eventually unlock something. The yard itself — run by Julia and Shelley Birkett — has had a productive season with 18 winners, so it isn't as though Diamond Ali is trained by people who don't know how to get a horse ready to win.

Class 6 is the entry level of British flat racing, the tier where horses are expected to find their easiest opportunities. Diamond Ali has run at that level four times and is still waiting. That's a tough fact to dress up — when a horse can't win at the lowest rung, it naturally raises questions about whether a change of approach, surface, or distance might be needed. Still, at three years old there is no reason to write off any horse entirely. Some take time. The second place suggests the ability to be competitive is in there somewhere. Whether Diamond Ali can turn that promise into a first win is the question the Birkett yard will be working hard to answer.