Ikigai Star

There are clear patterns to exploit here. Ikigai Star thrives on normal ground conditions, winning 3 of its 17 races (18%) when the going is standard — a marked improvement on its overall numbers — and it performs noticeably better over the longer distances, particularly between 1 mile 6 furlongs and 2 miles, where it has won 2 of 10 races (20%). The horse also gets on well in lower-level races. In Class 4 company, it has won 1 in 4 times, a 25% win rate that suggests it is genuinely competitive at that grade but struggles when stepped up in class.

Lilly Pinchin, who has ridden Ikigai Star for 2 of its 3 wins, appears to have found the measure of the horse. The pair has managed a respectable 18% win rate together — 2 wins from 11 races — and that partnership may be worth watching. Trained by Charlie Longsdon at Chipping Norton in Oxfordshire, a yard that sent out 31 winners this season, Ikigai Star remains a genuinely active runner just one day after its last outing. The horse is not a star, but it is a specialist: get it to Huntingdon on normal ground, over the right distance, in a Class 4 race, and the odds tighten considerably.