Last Man Standing

That said, context matters. Last Man Standing raced just one day ago, which means this is a horse very much in the thick of things — still being aimed at opportunities, still being given chances by the team. Trainer Rebecca Menzies, based at Morden in County Durham, has sent out 35 winners this season, which tells you this is a yard that knows how to get horses competitive. When a trainer with that kind of firepower keeps running a horse, it usually means they believe there is a win in there somewhere.

The question is whether Last Man Standing can find it. A third-place finish suggests it can at least get involved, but the bigger numbers — a fifteenth and a tenth — hint at a horse still searching for the right conditions or the right race to put it all together. At six years old, it is not short of experience; it just has not yet had the day where everything clicks. Menzies and her team will be hoping that day comes soon.