King's Call

The recent form makes for difficult reading. Over the last six races, King's Call has finished 8th, 18th, 10th, 13th, 13th, and 11th — a string of results that suggests the horse is struggling to land a blow at present. The most recent run came just yesterday, so this is a horse still very much in training and still being tested by its team, even if the results haven't been coming.

What's worth noting is the level King's Call has been asked to compete at. Five of its races have come in Class 1 company — the very top tier of British racing — and it hasn't won any of them. That's not a disgrace. Running in the best races in the country without winning is something most racehorses never even get the chance to do, and simply being entered at that level says the trainer, Seb Spencer, has seen enough ability to believe the horse belongs there. Spencer's yard in Malton, North Yorkshire has sent out 13 winners already this season, so this is clearly a team that knows how to get horses to perform.

The challenge for King's Call is that one win from 18 races, with the last victory now almost two years in the rear-view mirror, raises real questions about whether another winning day is coming. Horses can rediscover form — a drop in class, a change of conditions, a race that falls perfectly — but right now, King's Call is a horse whose best day feels frustratingly distant. The Ayr win in the summer of 2024 is the one bright chapter in a career that has otherwise been a long exercise in nearly-but-not-quite. Whether there's a second chapter to write remains to be seen.