Mythical Composer

Recent form shows the frustration. In the last six races, Mythical Composer has come third, then been well beaten (10th and 11th), picked up a fourth-place finish, and then gone for a place and a third—a pattern of near-misses and middling efforts that suggests the horse is operating right at the limit of its abilities. At seven furlongs to a mile, the distance sweet spot, the record is slightly better: 1 win from 6 races, or about 1 in 6. That's promising in theory, but the small sample size and the long gap since the last win make it hard to know if that's meaningful form or just a flicker. Trainer Clive Cox, who oversees a prolific Lambourn yard that has turned out 48 winners this season alone, continues to run the horse at Class 4 level—the bottom rung of the serious racing ladder—where Mythical Composer has won just once in 11 attempts. Jockey Rossa Ryan, the horse's most frequent partner with 8 rides, has managed to get a win from that pairing, so there is at least one person who has unlocked something. For now, Mythical Composer remains a horse with potential that keeps slipping away.