Kingdom Calling

The most eye-catching detail is the partnership with jockey G B Noonan, who has ridden Kingdom Calling five times without a single win together — a combination that, so far, simply hasn't clicked. Recent form makes for tough reading too: a string of mid-field finishes, including two runs in the back half of double-figure fields, suggests this is a horse finding life difficult at its current level. The dash in the recent form figures indicates a non-completion at some point, which adds another layer of concern.

What keeps the story alive is that Kingdom Calling is trained by Eoin Christopher McCarthy out of Athea in County Limerick — a yard that has sent out 15 winners this season, so the operation clearly knows how to get horses to perform. The fact that the yard is producing winners while Kingdom Calling struggles points to a horse that may simply need everything to fall right. It raced just one day ago, so the yard are clearly persevering and keeping this horse active. Whether Listowel — the scene of that one moment of glory twenty months ago — holds the key again at some point remains to be seen.