Noble George

His recent run of form reads 3-–-6-7-5-3, which shows a horse who has been finishing third, fifth, and sixth, with one missed race in between. The two third-place finishes are encouraging — he is clearly competitive — but the sixth and seventh suggest he can also have days where it just does not click. He raced just yesterday, so he is very much an active part of someone's plans right now.

Sean Quinlan has been aboard for seven of Noble George's nine races, a clear signal that the partnership is trusted by trainer Jennie Candlish. But the pair have yet to get their heads in front together. Candlish, based at Basford in Staffordshire, has had a productive season — 60 winners sent out is a healthy total for any yard — so the horses in her care are clearly capable of winning. Noble George, though, has yet to add his name to that tally.

The level Noble George competes at is Class 4, which sits in the middle of the racing ladder — not the top-tier big occasions, but not the bottom rung either. He has run five times at that level without winning, which raises a quiet question: is this a horse who needs to drop into easier company to find a race he can win, or is he simply one of those honest sorts who makes up the field and keeps everyone else honest without ever quite grabbing the glory himself? At 6 years old, time is not infinite, but he is hardly ancient. If Jennie Candlish and Sean Quinlan believe there is a win in him — and the fact that they keep running him together suggests they do — the next few races will be telling.