Sampoet

The recent form tells the story clearly. In its last six races, Sampoet has posted two places (a seventh and a fourth) but otherwise finished outside the top six, including an eighth just last time out. It raced only yesterday, so this is a horse still actively campaigning, still being given chances to break its duck at what is now an advanced age for a racehorse without a win on the board.

Based at Derrylin in County Fermanagh, Sampoet runs for trainer D M Christie's yard — a small operation that has managed to saddle just one winner all season, which gives a sense of scale. For a horse like Sampoet, which has never quite managed the top prize, that environment suggests it is being trained honestly and run in races within its compass. Whether it will finally get its head in front remains to be seen, but at nine years old and with no wins in 16 tries, the window of opportunity is narrowing. Horses that are still racing at this age without a victory are often kept going out of habit or affection rather than any real expectation of a breakthrough.