Iftikhaar

Over his last six runs, Iftikhaar has been knocking on the door without quite managing to get through it. He finished second and fifth in his most recent pair of races, showing he is still capable of running competitively, but a placement 12 or 13 positions back on his two outings before that suggests inconsistency. The gap between races is short — he last raced just a day ago — which means he is still being aimed at regularly. Daniel Muscutt has ridden him six times this season without finding the winner's enclosure, though that reflects more on the horse's general form than on his jockey. Trainer J. R. Jenkins, based at Royston in Hertfordshire, has found the winning formula just once with Iftikhaar, despite saddling him 39 times. The yard itself is competitive — it has sent out six winners this season — so Iftikhaar remains very much a work in progress. He shows signs of performing best at distances between 1m1f and 1m2f, where he won 1 from 11 races at that trip. On current form, another win looks a long way off, but the fact that one came at all suggests he is capable of better days, even if they come rarely.