Pinar Del Rio

What makes Pinar Del Rio slightly more interesting than its bare record might suggest is the partnership with jockey Ronan Whelan. When Whelan gets the ride, the horse's win rate jumps to nearly 30 percent — winning two of seven races together, a notable difference that hints at a real connection between rider and animal. Trainer Alan McIntyre's small Clifden yard, which has sent out just three winners all season, has done what it can with the horse, but at seven years old and winless for nearly two years, Pinar Del Rio is the kind of reliable but fading presence that owners keep racing out of hope rather than expectation. Still active and still competing, it remains the sort of horse that occasionally delivers a place and occasionally surprise, but a return to the winner's circle looks increasingly unlikely.