Hot To Foxtrot

The recent form tells an interesting story, though. Finishing third twice in the last six races suggests Hot To Foxtrot is finding a level where it genuinely belongs, and a sixth-place and fourth-place run fill out a picture of consistency rather than disaster. The one blip — a 13th-place finish — sticks out in an otherwise tidy sequence, and the horse appears to have bounced back from that well enough. Racing just one day ago, this is a horse in the thick of its campaign right now.

Trained by John James Feane at Curragh in Co Kildare, Hot To Foxtrot comes from a yard that has sent out 8 winners this season, so the operation clearly knows how to get horses over the line. The fact that this particular horse hasn't managed it yet is perhaps the most pressing question mark hanging over its career. At 6 years old, time is not running out exactly, but the window for a breakthrough is narrower than it once was. Whether Feane can find the right race to finally unlock that first win will be one of the small, quietly compelling storylines to follow.