Maui Breeze

The most recent run was just yesterday, which tells you something about how busy a life Maui Breeze leads. The last six races have produced a string of mid-to-back-of-field finishes — positions of 9, 5, 16, 7, 7, and 11 — and that solitary win is now twenty months in the rear-view mirror. The five placed efforts dotted through the career suggest a horse that is competitive without quite being able to cross the line first, which is a frustrating profile to have.

Jockey Paula Muir has partnered Maui Breeze six times without managing a win together, and at the level where this horse most often competes — the lower end of the racing ladder — the margin between winning and finishing fifth can be razor thin. Trainer Wilf Storey's yard has sent out four winners this season, so the operation is ticking over, but Maui Breeze has not been among those success stories.

The best chance of a change in fortunes appears to come over shorter distances. In races run between five and six-and-a-half furlongs, Maui Breeze has won 1 from 10 — a 10% win rate — which is modest but at least points somewhere productive. Find the right day, the right trip, and another visit to Southwell, and there might yet be a second chapter to that November story. For now, though, this is a horse that earns its keep through consistency rather than brilliance.