Geordie Mackem

What makes this slightly puzzling is the pedigree. Trainer Brian Ellison, whose yard at Norton in North Yorkshire has been in good form this season — sending out 43 winners — bought Geordie Mackem as a two-year-old with genuine optimism. The horse is by Jack Hobbs and comes out of a mare who ran for Alan King and was rated in the mid-140s, which in jumps racing terms represents a very smart performer. Ratings in that range belong to horses who compete at the top end of the sport. On paper, Geordie Mackem had every reason to be something.

Ellison has spoken warmly about what the horse shows at home, which is both encouraging and a little bittersweet — plenty of horses look the part on the gallops and struggle to translate it to race day. At six years old, Geordie Mackem is not ancient, but he is at the age where patience starts running thin and questions start getting asked. He raced just yesterday, so the team clearly has not given up, and 43 winners in a season tells you Ellison knows how to place a horse to win. The puzzle is finding the right race for this one. Until something clicks on the track, Geordie Mackem remains a horse whose promise lives entirely at home.