Katie's Casper

Her recent form shows the struggle. In her last six outings she has finished ninth, eleventh, fifth, second, fifth, and was absent from one race. That second-place finish suggests there are moments when she gets close to the action, but consistency has been her undoing. With Patrick M O'Brien in the saddle for five of those attempts, the partnership has managed only to fill the minor placings — five runs without a win tells the story of a horse that, rightly or wrongly, his rider and the yard have been unable to unlock.

Trained by Dermot A McLoughlin at Bodeen in County Meath, Katie's Casper is part of a yard that has saddled 10 winners this season, so he is not benefiting from a struggling operation. That context makes her blank record more pointed: she is a horse racing in a yard capable of producing winners, yet she simply has not delivered. At seven years old and still actively racing just a day ago, there remains time for Katie's Casper to surprise, but the evidence to date is of a genuine trier who belongs in the middle ranks of competition rather than among the winners.