Italian Spirit

That one win came at Fakenham on 15 October 2021 — and it remains the only time Italian Spirit has reached the winner's enclosure. That was 56 months ago, which is a long time in any sport. Since then, across six races, the horse has finished eighth, second, fourth, fifth, and third — a sequence that shows it is still in the mix, still placing, but unable to add to its tally. The second place in that recent run is tantalising, the kind of result that keeps everyone involved believing the next win might be just around the corner.

At Class 4 level — a solid middle tier of racing, below the headline events but far from easy — Italian Spirit has won 1 from 7 races, a win rate of around 14%, or roughly 1 in 7. That is actually a more encouraging number than its overall record suggests, hinting that when the horse is placed at the right level, it becomes a genuine contender rather than a also-ran. The challenge is turning those contending runs into winning ones.

The horse is trained by Harriet Dickin, whose yard in Midford, Somerset has sent out four winners this season. Dickin clearly knows how to get horses ready to win, and Italian Spirit remains an active runner — it raced just yesterday — so this is very much a story still being written. A trainer who has kept a 10-year-old in consistent form and competitive racing deserves credit for that alone. Whether Italian Spirit can add a second career win is the open question, but with recent form showing it finishing second and third, the talent is clearly still there. Sometimes in racing, the hardest part is not staying near the front — it is finding that last gear to cross the line first.