Oogum Boogum

The pattern holds up in recent form. Oogum Boogum has not won in its last six races, though the results—12th, 9th, 7th, 8th, 3rd, 2nd—show a horse that can place respectably on its day. That second-place finish most recently, combined with a third two races before that, suggests some consistency, even if the wins are nowhere to be found. Having raced just a day ago keeps the horse active and in work, which is where horses like this tend to be: not stars, but bread-and-butter racers who turn up regularly.

Trainer David Kenneth Budds, based at Reinduff in County Waterford, has Oogum Boogum as part of a modest operation—the yard has sent out just two winners all season, placing this horse in a setup where resources are limited and stakes are low. Shane Fitzgerald has ridden the horse most often, seven times, but has yet to taste a win in the saddle aboard it, which underlines the difficulty of extracting victories from a horse that simply does not win very often. For a horse that last tasted the winner's enclosure five months ago, Oogum Boogum remains what it always was: a hard-knocker, turning up regularly but rarely delivering the goods.