Rock N Roll Champ

The partnership with jockey Craig Nichol has been given every chance to click, with seven races together producing no wins between them. At some point, patience has to be admired. Nichol was back on board just yesterday, so the team clearly hasn't given up on finding that elusive first victory.

What stands out is how consistently Rock N Roll Champ has been aimed at Class 5 races — the entry-level tier of British racing — and has still not managed to win any of the ten races it has run at that level. These are not the glamour contests at the top of the sport; they are specifically designed to give horses like this a realistic chance. Finishing third and fourth in recent outings suggests the engine is running, but something always seems to intervene before the winning post. At eight years old, the window is not getting wider, which makes every run from here a genuine opportunity that the record suggests may not be taken.