Fenway Park

That Punchestown win, though, was not without merit. His then-trainer Gavin Cromwell noted afterwards that the horse was "quite professional" and that when a rival came to challenge him, he dug in and found more. That kind of battling quality is worth something, and Cromwell was optimistic enough at the time to flag him as a horse who could make his mark when he stepped up to fences. Since then, however, the wins have not come. His last six races have brought no victories, and his recent form figures — including a couple of twelfths — suggest he has been finding life difficult.

Now trained by Andrew McNamara at Athboy in Co. Meath, a yard that has sent out seven winners this season, Fenway Park is still in work and raced just yesterday. McNamara has been candid about the horse's limitations, describing a recent win at Clonmel — which appears to predate the current recorded sequence — as coming in "a fairly weak contest" and admitting the horse hadn't been putting in his best efforts in chases beforehand. That kind of honesty from a trainer is telling. It suggests a horse whose talent is real but whose willingness has been inconsistent.

Keith Donoghue has been the regular partner, riding him in nine of his eighteen races and winning once together — a rate of 11%, or just under 1 in every 9 rides. There is clearly a familiarity there, even if the results have not always matched the hope. At seven, Fenway Park is not an old horse, and McNamara clearly still believes there is something to work with. Whether he can find the consistency to match his better moments remains the open question.