Mister Pretentious

What makes the record particularly difficult to dress up is that there is no upward curve to point at. His most recent run came just yesterday, and he finished twelfth. His best finish came second time out. In between, there has been little to suggest things are trending in the right direction. For context, even a horse running at a modest level would typically find its way into the frame — the top three — occasionally by accident. Mister Pretentious has not managed that yet in five attempts.

Luke Dace, who trains him out of Billingshurst in West Sussex, has had six winners on the board this season, so the yard clearly knows how to get a horse to the winner's enclosure. Mister Pretentious has simply not been one of them. Whether that changes remains to be seen, but on current evidence, racegoers looking for a reason for optimism would need to be doing some imaginative squinting at the form book.