Nad Alshiba Snow

The recent form makes for interesting reading. In each of its last six races, Nad Alshiba Snow has finished fourth or fifth — consistent, in a way, but consistently just outside the prizes. There is no dramatic collapse, no signs of a horse that is struggling badly. It is simply finishing where it finishes, race after race, without quite breaking through.

Most of that recent work has been done alongside jockey Marco Ghiani, who has ridden the horse five times without a win between them. The pair have yet to click in the way that sometimes transforms a horse's fortunes when the right rider comes along. At the same time, the level at which Nad Alshiba Snow competes — Class 6, the entry-level tier of British racing — means the competition should, in theory, be within reach. Eight races at that level, zero wins from all eight, suggests this is simply a horse that finds the margins tight wherever it goes.

Trainer Mike Murphy, based in Westoning in Bedfordshire, is clearly not without ability — his yard has produced 14 winners already this season, which shows the operation knows how to get horses ready to win. The fact that Nad Alshiba Snow hasn't joined that tally yet is more about the horse than the training. Raced just yesterday, it remains active and in training, and at four years old there is time yet for things to change. But for now, this is a horse that racing folk would describe, with a certain gentle affection, as one that makes up the numbers — running honestly, placing occasionally, and waiting patiently for its moment.