Porridge

The record is stark: not a single victory from seventeen attempts, with just one placed finish to show for the whole career. That means Porridge has finished in the top three roughly once in every seventeen races, which is a tough return by any measure. Its recent runs tell a similar story — a couple of eighth-place finishes and a fourth are the highlights from the last six outings, with the fourth being the closest it has come to threatening the places of late. It raced just yesterday, so it is clearly an active, busy campaigner even if the results haven't been coming.

Most of Porridge's racing has come at Class 5, which is the bread-and-butter level of British racing — the kind of competitive but accessible contests where horses like this are supposed to find their feet. Seven races at that level, no wins. Trainer Tracey Leeson, who runs a small yard out of Blakesley Heath in Northamptonshire, has sent out one winner this season, so this isn't a high-volume operation throwing horses at the wall and hoping something sticks. It's a modest setup, and Porridge is very much part of that picture.

What keeps things going for a horse like this is hard to say from the outside, but the fact it raced as recently as yesterday suggests it is healthy and willing enough to keep competing. Sometimes that's the most honest thing you can say about a racehorse.