Grabajabba

What makes the current situation particularly puzzling is the Class 4 record. This is not the top tier of racing — Class 4 sits in the lower-middle of the rankings, the level where horses like Grabajabba are expected to be competitive — and yet across nine races at that level, the win column reads zero. Its two career wins actually came elsewhere, which means every time the horse has been pitched into its most familiar grade of competition, it has come up short.

The partnership with jockey Alistair Rawlinson tells a similar story. Nine races together, zero wins. That is not necessarily a damning indictment of either horse or rider — plenty of solid combinations simply never click — but it does add to the sense of a horse that has stalled. Trainer Michael Appleby, based in Oakham, Rutland, clearly knows how to get horses winning: his yard has sent out 74 winners this season alone, which is a genuinely productive operation. The horses are running well — just not this one, at least not lately.

Recent form reads 9-2-3-5 going back through the last four completed runs, with a second and third in there suggesting Grabajabba is not completely out of ideas. It raced just yesterday, so it is very much in the thick of things. The question is whether Appleby can find the right race to unlock another win, the way he managed at the end of 2024. For now, Grabajabba sits in that frustrating category of horses that are good enough to place but not quite good enough — or not quite right enough — to win.