Popa Rich

His recent form makes for interesting reading. His last six races show a mixture of mid-pack finishes, two thirds, and then three consecutive non-completions or unplaced efforts in his most recent outings. He raced just yesterday, so he is very much an active runner, and the yard at Kirklevington will be hoping a first win isn't far away. Jessica Bedi's team have sent out two winners this season, so they clearly know how to get a horse to the line first — the question is whether Popa Rich can be the next one.

Aaron Anderson has partnered him six times without a win between them, which at this point is something of a running story. That said, familiarity between horse and jockey does sometimes click into place, and six shared runs means Anderson knows this horse as well as anyone. Most of Popa Rich's races have come at Class 5 level — the entry-level tier of British racing — and he has drawn a blank in all five of those, which underlines that even at the softer end of the sport, that elusive breakthrough hasn't materialised.

At five years old, Popa Rich still has time. Some horses simply take longer to put it all together, and four career places show there is a performance in there worth backing. For anyone watching him run, the story is straightforward: here is a horse that keeps turning up, keeps running honestly, and is still waiting for the day everything falls into place.