Malton Groove

What might keep hope alive is his pedigree and the belief of trainer Dermot McLoughlin, based in County Meath. McLoughlin has noted that Malton Groove is a three-parts brother to Minella Times, a horse of considerable ability, and suggested the horse was slow to mature — genuinely backward last year but developing into something more formidable this season. That kind of late bloomer narrative is common in racing, though 37 races without a win makes it harder to swallow. Patrick M O'Brien has ridden him most often, 12 times without a win, so if there is a breakthrough coming, it may well require a different approach in the saddle.

The yard itself is doing reasonably well, with ten winners sent out this season, so McLoughlin clearly has material capable of performing. Whether Malton Groove will finally join that winners' circle, or remain one of racing's long-suffering characters, depends on whether his trainer's theory about maturity and improvement holds true. Right now, he remains a work in progress — and at nine, time may be running out.