Midnight Rumble

His best distance appears to be in the 1 mile 3 furlongs to 1 mile 4 furlongs range — a shade over ten furlongs, roughly the length of a long morning run. He has won 1 from 9 races at those trips, which works out at around 11%, a significantly better return than anything else on his record. It suggests he stays the distance well enough, but he is yet to translate that comfort into wins at Class 4 level — the mid-tier of British racing — where he has run 14 times without winning once. That is a tough number to look past.

Jockey Rossa Ryan has ridden him six times and the pair are still searching for their first win together. Recent form reads 5-4-2-2-5-3, which means he has been placed twice in his last six outings but is drifting further back in his most recent runs. He raced just yesterday, so he is very much in active campaigning.

There is, however, a twist to his story. His trainer has spoken about switching Midnight Rumble to hurdles — racing over obstacles rather than on the flat — which is a common move for horses who have hit a ceiling on the flat but might find new life jumping. A sinus infection caused a delay to those plans, but the intention is clearly to give him one more flat run before making the switch. It is worth watching how he goes in that next outing. Sometimes a change of discipline is exactly what a horse needs, and if Midnight Rumble can carry his placed form into a new arena, there might be a more interesting chapter still to come.