Judge Frank

Both of Judge Frank's wins have come on normal ground conditions, and he has managed 2 wins from 8 races in those conditions — that is 1 in every 4, which is a very different horse to the one that plods along at 11% overall. Ground clearly matters to him, and when conditions suit, he is competitive at a level where that counts. He tends to line up in the lower tiers of the sport — Class 6, the entry-level races — and has won 2 of his 10 races at that level, a rate of 1 in 5. That is respectable enough. The problem is that his recent form reads 7-5-6-2-8-12, which tells a story of a horse finding the frame occasionally but not quite delivering when it matters most.

His regular partner in the saddle is Rob Hornby, who has ridden him five times without a win — 0 from 5. That is not necessarily damning, but it does mean the partnership has yet to click on the big day. The Flint yard has sent out 7 winners this season, so there is clearly life in the operation, and Judge Frank is now returning from a break of around three months — 117 days since he last raced. A freshened-up horse can sometimes find a little extra, and on normal ground, in the right class of race, he has shown before that he knows how to win. Whether he can rediscover that form after such a lengthy absence is the question worth watching.