Port Noir

The overall numbers tell a steady, workmanlike story: 9 wins from 84 races, which works out to roughly 1 win in every 9 attempts, with 30 further placed finishes along the way. Most of those wins — 7 of the 9 — have come in Class 6 company, the entry-level tier of British racing, so this is not a horse mixing it with the sport's elite. But what it does, it does reliably, and right now it is doing it better than ever. Three wins from its last 6 races is a remarkable return for a horse of this profile — the kind of form that makes you sit up and take notice regardless of the grade.

The most recent of those wins came just four days ago at Kempton Park, a floodlit all-weather track in Surrey that Port Noir has clearly made its own. Two wins from just 4 visits there puts its Kempton win rate at 50% — winning every other time it turns up is a remarkable record at any track. Ground conditions tell an equally interesting story. On slow, wet ground, Port Noir wins 2 races from every 4 — again, a 50% win rate that points to a horse that genuinely thrives when conditions get testing. On fast, dry ground the record is more modest: 2 wins from 12 races, or roughly 1 in every 6, which is still perfectly respectable.

The sweet spot in terms of distance is a mile and one to a mile and two furlongs, where 5 of its 9 career wins have come — 5 wins from 29 races at those trips, a rate of about 1 in every 6. Get the trip right, get the ground soft enough, race it at Kempton, and you have a horse that is genuinely difficult to dismiss.

Robert Stephens, who trains Port Noir from a small yard in Caldicot in Monmouthshire, has sent out 11 winners this season — a solid return for a modest-sized operation. Regular jockey David Probert has been aboard for 11 of Port Noir's 84 races, producing 1 win between them, so the current purple patch has largely come with different riders in the saddle. At nine years old and in the form of its life, Port Noir is a lovely example of a horse that has simply got better with age.