One Way Traffic

The recent form does nothing to soften that picture. In the last six outings, the best finish on record is a sixth, achieved twice, with a pair of eighths and a ninth scattered in between. That dash in the sequence — the blank entry — suggests a race where things went so badly the result wasn't even worth recording in the usual way. For context, placing means finishing in the top two or three depending on the race; One Way Traffic has not managed that once in thirteen attempts.

The partnership with jockey James Duggan has been the most regular combination, but six races together have produced nothing in the way of reward. That is not necessarily a criticism of either horse or rider — sometimes two perfectly decent individuals simply don't add up to more than the sum of their parts, and sometimes the horse just isn't quite good enough regardless of who is in the saddle.

Trainer Oliver McKiernan operates out of Rathcoole in County Dublin, and the yard is not short of ability — four winners already on the board this season suggests McKiernan knows what he is doing. The fact that One Way Traffic has been kept in training and sent back out after a four-month break speaks to some belief that there is a race to be won somewhere. Whether that belief is justified is another matter entirely. Sometimes a trainer spots something in a horse that the form book doesn't reflect. Sometimes the form book is just telling you the truth.

One Way Traffic returns from its break with a clean bill of health, presumably, and a slate that could hardly look much worse. For anyone watching with fresh eyes, it is a horse that has consistently shown up without reward, trained by someone who clearly can get horses to win, and now lining up again after a reset. Racing always holds the possibility of surprise. This particular horse has spent thirteen races testing that idea without success.