Man Of Desert

His recent form makes for grim reading: his last six finishes read 8th, 7th, 10th, 5th, 7th, and 4th, working backwards from most recent. That fourth place last time out is the closest he has come to the winner's enclosure, and even that was a minor improvement on a string of performances well down the field. He raced just yesterday, so this is a horse very much in the middle of his season rather than one being freshened up or saved for a big occasion.

Jockey Silvestre De Sousa, one of the more accomplished riders in British racing, has been partnered with Man Of Desert six times without a win between them. De Sousa is the kind of rider trainers turn to when they want to give a horse every possible chance — so the fact that six attempts together have produced nothing suggests the issue lies with the horse rather than the man on top. Chris Dwyer's yard has sent out eight winners this season, so the operation clearly knows how to get horses to win — Man Of Desert just hasn't been one of them. At Class 4, the level where he most often competes, he is racing in the bottom half of the sport's grading system, and he still hasn't broken through. The story of Man Of Desert, for now, is one of a horse who keeps showing up without quite delivering.