Raise The Stakes

What gives the story some hope is who is doing the training. William Knight operates out of Newmarket, the spiritual home of British flat racing, and his yard has sent out 28 winners already this season — a sign of a stable in good health with horses capable of winning races. Getting horses placed and prepared is clearly not a problem for the operation, which means Raise The Stakes is in capable hands as it tries to get off the mark.

At three years old, there is still time. Many horses of this age are only just finding their feet, and a yard firing on all cylinders gives this one a reasonable platform to work from. The question is simply whether a run good enough to turn that zero into a one is coming. For now, it remains a horse that keeps turning up without quite delivering — but with 28 winners behind the same stable gates this season, the people around Raise The Stakes will not have given up yet.