Ruby Red Gove

The career arc has real momentum to it. Ruby Red Gove broke through for a first win at Wolverhampton back in March, then strung together two thirds before winning again at Pontefract just this week — making it 2 wins from the last 6 races. That recent sequence of 1-6-3-3-1-4 tells an interesting story: a winner, a dip, a couple of solid placings, another winner. Not flashy, but consistent enough to suggest a horse that turns up and competes rather than one that just makes up the numbers.

Ivan Furtado's operation has been in fine form this season, sending out 34 winners — that's not a yard that's struggling for confidence or firepower. Ruby Red Gove has been doing its bit. Most of those runs have come in Class 5 races, which sit towards the lower end of the British racing ladder. In that grade, the horse has won 1 of 4 — 25% — which is respectable rather than dominant. The interesting question, given the current form, is whether the yard start pitching it into slightly tougher company.

David Nolan has ridden Ruby Red Gove in 5 of its 8 races and has 1 win to show for it — roughly 1 in 5 together. That's a workmanlike partnership rather than a special one, though jockey-horse statistics can be deceptive over small samples. What matters more is that the horse raced just yesterday and is clearly in the thick of its season right now, fit and active. When a horse wins mid-week and comes back quickly, it usually means the trainer likes what he sees. Ruby Red Gove looks like a horse on the up.