Frankie Faulkner

At nine years old, Frankie Faulkner is no youngster, and the figures suggest he may have found his ceiling. He typically races at Class 5, the lower tier of jumping races, where he has won none of his 11 attempts. His recent form has been mixed — a second, a third, and another second in his last six runs show he is still capable of running respectably, but the drought goes on. Isabel Williams, his regular jockey, has ridden him 15 times and won just once with him, the same Newton Abbot victory that remains his lone career triumph.

Mrs C Williams' yard at Llancarfan is modest — they sent out only three winners all season — but the trainer saw something in Frankie Faulkner worth running again. After a quick turnaround at Hereford on fast, dry ground where the horse struggled, he felt a return to softer conditions might help him find another winning chance. It is a sympathetic view, the kind a trainer offers for a horse that keeps trying without reward. Whether Frankie Faulkner can actually deliver one more win remains to be seen, but he is out there racing and, at 1 win from 19 races, that single victory nearly three years ago now feels like ancient history.