Nancee Spain

The recent form tells a story of a horse hovering just outside the money. Three times in the last six starts Nancee Spain has either eighth or ninth, but then there's that second-place finish two races back and a third the race before that. It is the kind of pattern that can frustrate the yard—close enough to suggest the talent is there, far enough away to wonder if something is missing. Daniel McLoughlin's yard at Newbridge is competitive this season with nine winners to its name, so the horse is in a functioning training operation. When Ben Coen has ridden Nancee Spain, the results have been better: one win from five races together gives a 20% success rate with that jockey, nearly double the overall record. The horse raced just yesterday, so it is still very much active and being given chances to get back to the winner's circle. Whether that next victory comes soon or takes another few months remains to be seen, but at this stage, patience is clearly being asked of everyone involved.