King Of Stars

What makes the Salisbury win particularly interesting is the recent form that led into it. The last six races read 7th, 3rd, 4th, 12th, 10th, and then — 1st. That third-place finish a few runs back was perhaps the hint that something was coming, and the yard clearly kept faith with the horse long enough to see it through.

The jockey relationship with Alistair Rawlinson is one of the stranger subplots in this story. Rawlinson has ridden King Of Stars 13 times without a win between them — 0 from 13 is a long run of near-misses for any partnership. Whether Tuesday's winner was aboard Rawlinson or someone else is worth noting: if it was finally Rawlinson who got the job done, that is a genuinely satisfying ending to a long wait.

Michael Appleby trains the horse out of Oakham in Rutland, and his yard has been in strong form this season with 71 winners already on the board. A trainer firing at that rate knows how to place a horse, and the fact that Salisbury was chosen as the venue — and it worked — suggests some thought went into the target. King Of Stars has just 1 win and 7 places to show for 24 races, but with a place in roughly 1 in every 3 races, it has never been completely out of the picture. At nine years old, racehorses do not often surprise people. King Of Stars just did.