Inishfallen

What the bare numbers don't immediately tell you is that Inishfallen has been placed seven times from those 26 races — meaning it has finished in the frame nearly a third of the time. It is not a horse that trails in at the back of the field; it is a horse that gets close and then, frustratingly, gets close again. The recent form reads 2-11-10-6-4-2, which shows a horse that finished second in its most recent race, suggesting it is running well enough right now even if the wins are not coming. Second place does not pay much, but it does suggest the engine is still running.

The challenge is the level at which Inishfallen competes. This is a horse that typically lines up in Class 1 races — the very top tier of British racing — and has done so five times without winning once. That is an extraordinarily tough environment, and the fact that it keeps being entered there tells you the team in Ireland, Stephen Thorne's yard based in Rush, Co Dublin, believe the horse belongs in that company. Thorne has sent out 24 winners already this season, so this is not a small or idle operation. When Inishfallen runs over its preferred distance — the sharp, sprinting trips of five to six-and-a-half furlongs — it has won 1 from 17 at that range, a 6% win rate, which sounds modest but makes more sense when you remember the quality of the opposition it regularly faces.

Jockey Sean Levey has partnered the horse nine times, winning once together — that's 1 in every 9 rides. Again, not a dazzling number, but given the racecourse, the competition level, and a second place just yesterday, Inishfallen is not a horse on its way out. It is a horse that keeps knocking on the door.