Haaland

The Jim and Suzi Best yard, tucked away in Lewes in East Sussex, has sent out 14 winners this season, so the operation clearly knows how to get horses winning. Haaland just hasn't been one of them lately. The recent form makes for uncomfortable reading: in the last six races, the best result has been a sixth-place finish, and there have been two runs deep in the field in ninth and eleventh. That is a horse going through a lean spell, not threatening to break it.

What is worth noting, though, is where Haaland does its best work. Over long distances — two miles and beyond — it has won 1 from 4 races, which works out at 25%, or one in every four tries. That is a meaningfully better return than its overall record suggests, and it hints at a horse that actually needs time and space to find its rhythm. Most of its racing has come at Class 5, the bread-and-butter level of British racing, where it has won just 1 from 10, or one in ten — modest, but at least it has competed at a level that suits its ability.

The jockey question is harder to ignore. Luke Morris has partnered Haaland seven times without a single win between them. That is not necessarily anyone's fault — form slumps happen — but seven rides and no wins together is a combination that hasn't clicked yet. Haaland has been off the track for 36 days now, a short freshen-up rather than anything more serious.

The career total of three wins tells you this is a horse competing at a modest level, finding its way in the lower tiers of the sport. But that first win at Lingfield in January 2023, and another at Newcastle nine months later, show there is something there on the right day. Whether another right day is coming is the question.