Macs Dilemma

What makes Macs Dilemma worth watching, though, is his clear preference for fast, dry ground. On such conditions he has won 4 of his 14 races — nearly one in three, compared to his overall win rate of one in seven. He also performs noticeably better over the shorter distances, particularly between 5 furlongs and 6½ furlongs, where he has won 3 of 10 races. John O'Shea's yard at Newham-on-Severn has found the mark with him in the past, and jockey Gina Mangan, his most regular partner, has steered him home twice from 13 rides together. The challenge is that he typically races in Class 4 — the lower tier of competition — and even there, he has managed only 1 win from 17 attempts. Just as notably, his recent form is poor. In his last six races, all run in the past month, he has not finished higher than fourth, though he was a shade unlucky in one outing when running fifth. Still, at eight years old and nearly three years without a victory, Macs Dilemma is a horse running out of time to prove his earlier promise was anything more than fleeting.