Hamsiyann

The problem is that one Cheltenham win now sits 19 months in the past, and the recent form makes for uncomfortable reading. The last six runs show finishes of 16th, 20th, 4th, and 2nd — with two blanks in there too — and no win since that November day. A second and a fourth are promising enough to suggest the horse is not simply out of its depth, but the 16th and 20th place efforts pull in the opposite direction. At its best, it is competitive; at its worst, it is well beaten.

Adding to the challenge, Hamsiyann has been regularly tested in Class 2 races — the second tier of British racing, just below the very top level. It has run four times at that level and won none of them. That is a tough ask for a horse with a single career win to its name, and it may partly explain why the victories have not followed. Competing consistently at a high level without the results to show for it is a pattern that puts pressure on a horse's confidence as much as its ability.

The yard behind it, trained by A.J. Martin out of Summerhill in County Meath, has been in good form this season — 15 winners sent out suggests a team that knows what it is doing. The fact that Hamsiyann raced just yesterday shows it is being kept busy and is clearly considered worth persisting with. Whether it can find a race that suits it well enough to add a second win to that Cheltenham moment remains the question. One win from 17 races is a modest record, but that win came at one of the most famous tracks in the world — and that, at least, is something worth holding onto.