Neptunes Staircase

His recent form has been mixed. Over his last six races, he has struggled with a couple of well-beaten efforts — a 13th and a 9th — but he has also shown some spark, finishing second most recently and placing again before that with a 7th and a 6th. It is the kind of patchy record that suggests a horse searching for consistency and perhaps waiting for the right race and conditions to click again.

Colin Keane, who rides for trainer G M Lyons at Dunsany in County Meath, has been his most frequent partner. Keane has partnered him in six races, winning once — a 17% win rate, which is better than Neptunes Staircase's overall record. That gives some hint that the horse runs better in Keane's hands, though the sample size is small. Lyons' yard has had a productive season with 43 winners, so there is real horsemanship at work behind the scenes. Still, for a six-year-old still chasing his second win, Neptunes Staircase remains very much a work in progress — a horse with ability but struggling to find the consistent form that would make him a regular threat in the winners' circle.