Port Louis

His recent form tells the familiar story of a horse treading water. In his last six outings, he has brought home two placings and finished outside the frame four times, most recently just a day ago. The placings — a third and an eighth — show he still has races he can contest, but consistency remains elusive. Ridden most often by Colin Keane, Port Louis has managed just 1 win from 13 races together, a 8 percent win rate that suggests neither horse nor jockey have quite found the right formula.

Bernard Llewellyn's yard at Fochriw has been sending out winners this season, which at least indicates the trainer knows how to get horses across the line. But Port Louis appears to be one of those animals that will likely end his racing days as a solid, unremarkable servant — honest enough to compete, rarely good enough to win, and now firmly established as a perennial also-ran. For a five-year-old with his record, another win may yet come, but it is not something anyone is waiting for with particular hope.