Hard Endeavor

Chapple-Hyam's stable, based at Dalham in Suffolk, has sent out 24 winners this season and knows how to prepare horses properly. Hard Endeavor's breakthrough victory at Kempton last November may not have come easily—he took seven races to get off the mark—but it proved he belonged in the winner's circle at some level. The real question now is whether he can build on that moment. His recent record is patchy enough to suggest he is still a work in progress, the kind of horse that turns up every few weeks and gives his the yard hope with a decent run, only to disappoint the next time out. Still active and racing just a day ago, he remains a horse in search of consistency—and perhaps another trip to Kempton, where he clearly knows how to get the job done.