Shamacid

The recent form tells an interesting story. Go back through the last six races and you find a fourteenth, a second, a third, a sixth, an eighth, and a fourth — read in reverse, that is a horse who was bang there two and three races ago and has since had a couple of harder days. The second and third place finishes are the ones worth holding onto. Finishing second or third means Shamacid was beating most of the field. In a race with a typical field of ten or twelve runners, that is no small thing.

Most of Shamacid's racing has come at Class 5 level, which is the bread and butter of the British racing calendar — competitive, often large fields, and plenty of horses in similar form. Going zero from ten at that level without a win is frustrating, but eight places from thirteen races overall suggests the horse is not outclassed. The win is there somewhere, waiting to happen.

The trainer S Woods, based in Newmarket — the historic heartland of British flat racing — has sent out 24 winners this season, which shows an active and capable yard. Newmarket is home to some of the best facilities in the country, and having that infrastructure behind a horse like Shamacid suggests the team have not given up on finding the right opportunity. With Shamacid having raced as recently as yesterday and clearly still in training, the search for that elusive first win is very much ongoing. Patience is clearly the watchword here, but the consistency in placed finishes means there is still every reason to keep watching.