Frankendael

The broader career picture is more modest but still solid. Four wins and nine places from 22 races, a win rate of roughly 1 in every 5 or 6 outings, adds up to a horse that earns its keep without ever threatening the top tier. It competes mostly at Class 5, the bread-and-butter level of British racing, and at that level it has won 2 from 6 — around 1 in every 3 races, which is a genuinely decent return. Its best distance — a mile and a furlong to a mile and two furlongs — has produced 2 wins from just 4 races, a 50% win rate that suggests the team has found its sweet spot when they get the trip right.

The current spell of form is the honest caveat. Frankendael has not won since Listowel on 27 September 2024 — that is now 22 months ago — and the last six runs have produced nothing better than a third place finish. The two most recent efforts, both finishing sixth, suggest a horse that is running consistently without threatening to land the prize. Trained by E McNamara out of Rathkeale in County Limerick — a yard that has already sent out 22 winners this season, so it is clearly a functioning operation — Frankendael is regularly partnered by Conor McNamara, who has ridden it to 1 win from their 6 races together. It raced just one day ago, so this is very much a horse in active service.

The story here is not one of decline so much as a horse that has a very particular version of its best self. Get it to Beverley, at the right distance, and you have a genuine contender. Everywhere else, it is honest and willing, but the magic is harder to find.