Hambelton

Luke McAteer has been in the saddle for five of those six races, and the pair have yet to find the winner's enclosure together, but that partnership clearly isn't going anywhere — the trainer keeps putting them together, which suggests there is a belief that the combination can click when the right opportunity comes along.

That trainer is David Marnane, operating out of Bansha in County Tipperary. Marnane is no small operation — the yard has already sent out 16 winners this season, which tells you this is a stable that knows how to get horses into the right races and deliver results. Having a horse like Hambelton still searching for a first win is unlikely to be causing sleepless nights there, but it does mean there will be thought going into where and when to pitch the young horse in next. Marnane raced Hambelton just yesterday, so this is very much a yard keeping the horse active and working through the problem.

At three years old, Hambelton is still at the beginning of its career in the grand scheme of things. Some horses take time to work out what racing is actually about — to learn how to settle, how to pick up when asked, how to handle competition. The improving profile through the recent runs, from eighth to fourth to fifth, is at least a hint that something might be developing. Whether it translates into a win soon is the question, but with an active trainer, a regular jockey, and a yard clearly capable of finding opportunities, Hambelton is far from a horse to write off just yet.