Due To Shine

Brian Ellison's Norton yard is a busy operation — 43 winners this season shows it's a proper training base with horses winning races — but Due To Shine hasn't been among the success stories yet. Looking at recent form, there are glimpses of something: a third-place finish three runs ago and a second-place two races back suggest the horse can compete at the level it's being asked to race at. But the most recent stretch has been tougher. The last six races have brought only that one second place and that third, with other results drifting back into mid-field. A seventh-place finish just yesterday shows momentum hasn't quite arrived.

At three years old, Due To Shine still has time to turn things around — plenty of horses hit their stride later in their career — but so far this is a horse working hard and not quite getting there. Without a win on the board, there's not much to point to yet beyond occasional near-misses. The next step is simple: breaking that duck and getting that first victory. Until then, Due To Shine remains a horse trying to prove it can do more than just turn up.