The recent form makes for interesting reading. Back-to-back second-place finishes in races four and five showed real consistency, before an eighth and a fourteenth in its two most recent outings suggest it may have hit a flat patch — or simply met stronger company. It raced just yesterday, so the yard are clearly keeping it busy and looking for the right opportunity to get that win on the board.
What works in Poker's favour is the yard behind it. K R Burke, based at Coverham in North Yorkshire, has sent out 145 winners already this season — that is a remarkable number that puts the operation among the most productive in the country. A trainer operating at that volume and that level of success knows how to place a horse, how to read its form, and how to find the right race at the right moment. Poker may be winless, but it is in exactly the kind of professional, high-functioning set-up that gives a young horse the best possible chance of turning promise into a result.
The wait goes on, but with a trainer firing at that rate and a horse that has already shown it can finish in the prizes, a first win feels like a question of when rather than if.
| Course | Races | Results | Last visited | Win rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Haydock Park Galloping |
2 | 1 second, 1 other | 25 Apr | 0% |
| Redcar Galloping |
1 | 1 second | 27 Oct | 0% |
| Epsom Downs Undulating |
1 | 1 other | 6 Jun | 0% |
| Doncaster Galloping |
1 | 1 other | 9 Jul | 0% |