Karmacy

The finishing positions are worth looking at closely. Sevenths and eighths, race after race, suggest a horse that is competing but not yet competitive — running on without ever threatening the leaders. That is not necessarily a dead end for a young horse, but it does mean something needs to change, whether that is a step down in distance, a different surface, or simply more time and confidence.

Karmacy runs at Class 5 level, which is the entry-level tier of British racing — the races where horses are given every chance to win. Even there, in the most accessible contests available, the results have not come. Andrew J Martin, who trains out of Chipping Norton in Oxfordshire, has sent out five winners this season, so the yard clearly knows how to get a horse to the winner's enclosure. Karmacy, though, has not yet been one of them. With a race just yesterday, the yard are clearly keeping faith and giving the horse opportunity — now it just needs to repay it.