Klitschko

At Sedgefield, Klitschko becomes a different proposition entirely. He has won 2 of his 4 races there, a 50% win rate that marks him out as a horse who genuinely relishes that track. His most recent victory came there on 19 March, though it has now been seven months since that win — a long absence from the winner's enclosure that suggests opportunities have been thin on the ground lately. His last six races tell the story: a fourth place, followed by a run of places (1st, 3rd, 3rd, and 5th) that show he is competitive but struggling to get back into the winning habit.

Klitschko also prefers normal ground conditions, winning 4 of 10 races on standard turf. He performs noticeably better over the longer distances too, winning 2 of 5 races between 1m6f and 2m, another indication that he has a clearer profile than his overall record might suggest. The challenge is that he typically races in Class 4 events — the bread-and-butter level of racing — where he has managed just 2 wins from 13 attempts. Trainer Lucinda Hughes, based at Carlton-In-Cleveland in North Yorkshire, has kept him competitive enough to stay active at eight years old, a sign of a horse worth the effort to campaigned. Ridden regularly by Brian Hughes, though with just 1 win from 9 races together, the partnership has not quite clicked. The fact that Klitschko raced just a day ago shows he is still being given chances to find his way back to winning form.