Nonbinding

What makes the current situation interesting is the recent form. Scroll back through the last six runs and there's a lot of dashes — racing shorthand for pulled up or unseated — which tells you this horse has been going through a rough spell. But the most recent completed run produced a fourth-place finish, and before that a win. There are signs of life here, even if the path hasn't been straightforward.

Nonbinding is trained by Victor Thompson, who operates out of Alnwick in Northumbria — a small yard, not a big factory operation. The team has sent out one winner this season, so Thompson clearly knows how to get a horse ready to win, even if the opportunities are select. Small yards like this tend to pick their spots carefully, and when they do fire, it's worth paying attention. The last win came 42 months ago, which is a long gap, but the horse is still active and still running — and that fourth-place finish suggests there may be one more good day left in this campaign.