Off The Jury

The frustration runs deep because the talent is clearly there. Jockey and owner David Maxwell, who has ridden him in 8 of those 15 races without once getting him to the line first, put it bluntly after one run at Doncaster: on all the form, the horse should have won, but he didn't. After a race at Wetherby, Maxwell described spending the whole race hauling on one rein trying to keep Off The Jury straight — the horse hung badly going down the back, drifted again in the home straight, and nearly threw it away at the second-last. "He's so frustrating," Maxwell admitted. "He's got talent though." That tension between what a horse shows in training and what it delivers on the track is one of racing's oldest stories, and Off The Jury has been living it.

Trainer Mickey Bowen, based in Haverfordwest in Pembrokeshire, picked him up as an expensive purchase at the Punchestown sales and always believed he had serious potential — describing him as a big, scopey horse with the jumping ability to become a chaser in time. Bowen's yard has hit 51 winners this season, so this is not an outfit short of confidence or ability. His four runs at Class 3 level — one of the better tiers of British racing — have brought no wins yet, suggesting the horse is still finding his way at that standard. But the recent form tells a more encouraging story: a win and two second places in his last six runs point to a horse finally beginning to put it all together. Whether the Cartmel win signals a turning point or another near-miss is the question Off The Jury's team will be asking themselves this week.