Forest Hills

What makes the numbers slightly more encouraging is where Forest Hills tends to show up best. At distances between a mile and a mile and two furlongs, it has won 1 from 4 races — a 25% win rate, which is a very different story from its overall record and suggests the horse genuinely has a preferred sweet spot. The problem is that most of its career has been spent in Class 5 races, which sit near the bottom of the British racing ladder, and there it has managed 0 wins from 7 attempts. That is a tough combination: competing at a level designed to give horses like this a chance, and still not getting over the line.

Recent form has been difficult. The last six races have produced finishes of 5th, 6th, 7th, 15th, 7th, and 5th — consistently mid-pack or worse, with that 15th placing standing out as a genuinely rough day at the office. Nothing in the recent record suggests a win is imminent. Forest Hills raced just yesterday, so the team are clearly keeping it busy, but busy has not yet translated into better. For any horse to go 21 months without winning, the question the yard will be asking is whether the right conditions — that particular distance, the right track — can line up again before the window closes.