Game Point

The recent form paints a picture of a horse in decent nick. Looking at the last six races, the sequence reads 3-2-3-6-10-4 — so two poor runs in the middle, but sandwiched by placings on either side, and a third-place finish just yesterday confirms it is still very much in the mix. Racing as recently as one day ago, Game Point is clearly a busy and robust horse that the yard is happy to keep running.

Colin Keane has been the regular partner, riding Game Point in eight of its 13 races without managing to get it to the winner's enclosure. That is a long association without a breakthrough, and at some point the question has to be asked whether a change of approach — or simply the right race on the right day — might be the key that unlocks it. Keane is a high-quality rider, so this is not about the jockey; it speaks more to a horse that seems to find one or two better than it on the day, reliably.

Trainer R P Cody operates out of Dunnamaggin in County Kilkenny, a yard that has sent out six winners already this season — so the team clearly knows how to get a horse to win. The fact that Game Point remains a maiden in the record books is not for want of effort or opportunity. Sometimes a horse just needs everything to fall right: the field, the ground, the pace of the race. With a horse this consistent at finishing close, that day may not be far away — but it has been a long time coming.