Mancero

The recent form makes for uncomfortable reading. Looking at the last six races, Mancero has finished fourth three times, had one run where no finishing position was recorded, then a sixth and another fourth. That cluster of fourth-place finishes is almost the most frustrating outcome in racing — close enough to suggest something is there, but consistently short of getting the job done. It is the kind of pattern that keeps the yard hopeful without giving them much to celebrate.

Jockey Jack Tudor has been the regular partner, riding Mancero in six of those races without managing a win. Tudor is an accomplished young rider, so the lack of a breakthrough is not down to the saddle — the horse simply has not found a way to win yet. Trainer David Pipe, based at Nicholashayne in Somerset, is a well-established name in the sport and his yard has sent out 35 winners already this season, so the operation clearly knows how to get horses winning. Mancero, though, has been the exception rather than the rule.

Most of its racing has come at Class 5 level — the lower end of the sport, where races are designed to give horses of modest ability somewhere to compete. Even there, Mancero has drawn a blank in all four attempts at that level. That does not mean it cannot win — plenty of horses take time to find their feet — but at four years old and eight races in, the clock is ticking. The team will be hoping a small change in conditions or a well-judged race finally unlocks what those near-misses have hinted at.