Evening's Empire

The concern right now is that second win came 23 months ago, and Evening's Empire hasn't been able to add to it since. In its last six races, the best finish recorded is a 9th, which is honest but unremarkable. A horse that was once competitive enough to win at Down Royal clearly has ability somewhere in there, but translating that into a result has proven elusive lately.

Where the numbers do get more interesting is over the 7-furlong to 1-mile trip, where Evening's Empire has won 1 from 4 races — 25%, or 1 in every 4. That's a dramatically better return than its overall record suggests, and it tells you there's a specific version of this horse that works well when the distance is right.

Chris Hayes, who rides more often than anyone else, has steered it to 1 win from 7 races together — about 1 in every 7, which is a fair return given the horse's overall numbers. Trainer James M Barcoe, based at Gowran in County Kilkenny, has had seven winners this season, so the yard is in decent form, and with Evening's Empire having raced just yesterday, there's clearly no shortage of enthusiasm for keeping this horse busy and finding the right opportunity.