Obscenity

The most recent outing came just a day ago, and Obscenity finished eighth—a rare flat result after a genuinely mixed run of form. In its last six races, the horse has finished first, second, first again, twelfth, fourth, and eighth in reverse order. That's the sort of rollercoaster that drives trainers to distraction: capable of winning, but unreliable. The last victory came at Gowran Park on 1 June, now four months in the past, which is a long drought at this level. Before that, the horse won at Navan on 25 April, so there was a genuine winning streak earlier in the year, but nothing has landed since summer. Obscenity still finishes in the places regularly—4 placings from 12 races shows the horse is competitive—yet translating that into wins has become the puzzle. With O'Brien's yard producing 160 winners this season alone, Obscenity has the infrastructure and expertise behind it, but the horse will need to rediscover whatever made it click at distances it clearly enjoys if it is to move beyond being a part-timer in the winner's circle.