Imperial Decision

The recent form makes for interesting reading. A fifteenth last time out looks alarming, but wind the tape back a little further and you find two third-place finishes sandwiching a seventh, plus a second — and it raced just yesterday, so this is very much a horse in active work rather than one being nursed along between outings. The yo-yo nature of those results suggests a horse still finding its feet rather than one in steady decline.

Imperial Decision is trained by Kieran Burke, who operates out of Whitcombe in Dorset. Burke's yard has sent out 13 winners this season, which tells you this is a trainer capable of getting horses to perform — so there is genuine reason to think Imperial Decision's first win is a matter of when, not if, assuming the ability shown in those placed efforts is real and repeatable. Whether Burke can find the right race to finally get Imperial Decision over the line is the question worth watching.