The recent run of form does tell a slightly different story, though. The last five results, reading from most recent to oldest, go 4-3-10-2-2. Those two second-place finishes at the back end of that sequence showed real promise, but a tenth-place finish followed by a third and then a fourth suggest Ritaal is still working things out. Yesterday's race — this horse ran just one day ago — ended in fourth, which means the team heads into the next few weeks with some thinking to do.
William Muir and Chris Grassick, who train out of Lambourn in Berkshire, have had a productive season with 20 winners on the board, so they clearly know how to get a horse ready to win. Lambourn is one of Britain's great training centres, a village that essentially exists for racehorses, and being based there puts Ritaal in good hands. The puzzle for the yard will be finding the right opportunity — Ritaal has run three times at Class 5 level, the bread-and-butter tier of British racing, and hasn't won any of them. At some point, a race has to come along that fits just right. The placings suggest the ability is there. It's just a question of when everything clicks.
| Course | Races | Results | Last run | Win rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wolverhampton Galloping |
2 | 2 seconds | 25 Nov | 0% |
| Southwell Galloping |
1 | 1 other | 19 Dec | 0% |
| Kempton Park Galloping |
1 | 1 third | 14 Jan | 0% |
| Lingfield Park Sharp |
1 | 1 other | 4 Jun | 0% |