Epictetus

The numbers since then, though, tell a different story. Epictetus has not won in the last six races, and the last victory came at Goodwood in August 2023 — now 34 months ago. Three wins from 31 career races works out at roughly 1 in every 10, which is modest overall. But context matters here. This is a horse that spends most of its time in Class 1 company, the hardest races to win on the calendar. Two victories from 11 runs at that level — nearly 1 in 5 — is actually a respectable return when you consider the quality of opposition faced every time out.

One thing that genuinely stands out is how Epictetus responds to wet ground. On soft or muddy going, the record reads 2 wins from 6 races — that is 1 in 3, comfortably the best performance across any ground type. When the weather turns and the track gets heavy, this horse becomes a more interesting proposition than the bare statistics might suggest.

Trainer Jamie Osborne has had a productive season at his Upper Lambourn yard, sending out 47 winners, so the team around this horse is clearly functioning well. Most of the recent rides have gone to Saffie Osborne — eight races together without a win, which will be a frustration, though the runs have been consistently placed: that recent sequence of 3-3-2-2-4-2 shows a horse still competing at a decent level, finishing in the first three in five of its last six outings. Raced just yesterday and still active, Epictetus is not coasting toward retirement. The wins may have dried up, but the effort has not, and on the right wet day over seven furlongs to a mile, there may still be one more moment worth watching.