Great Mover

Trained by W McCreery out of Rathbride in County Kildare — a yard that has sent out 19 winners already this season, so clearly knows how to get a horse over the line — Great Mover has simply not been able to repeat that Gowran Park moment. Nine months have passed since that victory, and the last six races have produced nothing better than a second and a third, with a couple of disappointing finishes thrown in. The partnership with jockey Nathan Crosse tells a similar story: six races together, zero wins. That is not necessarily a damning statistic — placing regularly is still valuable — but it does underline that this horse is yet to find its best combination of circumstances.

Where Great Mover does show a clearer identity is at a distance of a mile and one to a mile and two furlongs. That is the sweet spot, and at those trips it has won 1 from 10 races — a 10% win rate, which is meaningfully better than its overall record and suggests the team has a reasonable handle on where its chance lies. It raced just yesterday, so it is bang in form and clearly being kept busy. Whether that activity brings another breakthrough, or whether Great Mover continues its habit of finishing just behind the action, is the question that keeps racing interesting.