In The Air

The current form is particularly eye-catching. In the last six races, In The Air has won twice, finished second once, and only once drifted well out of contention. For an eight-year-old still racing just yesterday, that level of consistency is the kind of thing that keeps trainers and fans alike refreshing the results page. The horse is very much in its prime competitive window rather than winding down.

Alastair Ralph's yard in Bridgnorth, Shropshire has been in fine fettle this season — 25 winners sent out, which speaks to a training operation genuinely firing on all cylinders. Ralph picked up In The Air from Adam West and the horse hit the ground running immediately, winning first time out for the new yard at Southwell before following it up with another win at Exeter the following week despite carrying a penalty. That early promise has been well and truly delivered on.

The horse has a particular affection for Stratford-on-Avon, winning 2 of its 5 races there — a 40% win rate at a single track that most horses treat as just another date on the calendar. The most recent of those came just five weeks ago, a win on normal ground in June. That detail about the ground matters: on fast, dry or normal conditions, In The Air wins 6 from 13 races, nearly 1 in every 2. Get it on a wet, muddy track and the picture is very different. Ground conditions, for this horse, are not a minor footnote — they are close to everything.

Jockey Ciaran Gethings has been the regular partner, and the combination works: 3 wins from 9 races together, or roughly 1 in every 3, which is a genuinely strong ratio at this level. In The Air typically lines up in Class 3 company — one step below the elite races — and while winning 2 from 11 at that level (around 1 in 6) shows it is no pushover at those heights, the horse's best performances suggest it finds its rhythm when everything — track, ground, jockey — clicks into place at once.