Rajeteriat

The recent form is actually more encouraging than the win column suggests. In the last six races, Rajeteriat has posted a 9, then a 4, a 5, a second, a third, and most recently a twelfth — running just yesterday, so this is very much a horse in active training. That second and third place finish in the middle of that run shows there is ability here. The 12th last time out is a step back, but horses go through patches, and Chris Gordon's yard at Morestead in Hampshire will be well aware of what needs to click.

Gordon has had a productive season with 51 winners sent out, so this is a well-functioning yard that knows how to get horses to perform. Josephine Gordon, who rides Rajeteriat most often — five of its races together — hasn't yet been aboard for a win with this horse, going 0 from 5, but the partnership is clearly an established one and the team clearly believe in keeping the combination together. At Class 4, which is a solid mid-tier level of racing, Rajeteriat has run six times without winning, suggesting the horse is competitive at that grade without quite mastering it.

The honest assessment is this: Rajeteriat is the kind of horse that will frustrate and fascinate in equal measure. It places often enough to show it belongs, but winning is a different challenge entirely. At four years old, there is still time to figure it out — and with a busy, successful yard behind it and a regular jockey keeping the partnership tight, the ingredients are there. Sooner or later, a race is going to fall right.