Shamanka

The recent form makes for mixed reading. Working backwards from her last run, the sequence reads 10-4-17-13-3-5, and there is a real inconsistency there that will frustrate the yard. The third place at the fifth-last run is genuinely encouraging — it shows she can perform at a decent level — but the 17th and 13th in the middle of that sequence suggest she can also have days where nothing clicks. For a horse without a win, stringing together consistency is everything, and that has proven elusive.

Wayne Lordan has been her most regular partner in the saddle, riding her six times without a win between them. That is a decent sample of races to go on, and so far the combination simply hasn't fired. Whether the issue lies with the horse finding her best form, the types of races she has been entered in, or just the difficulty of that final step from placed horse to winner, something has not quite fallen into place.

She raced just one day ago, so she is very much an active horse with her story still being written. At four years old, there is time yet — plenty of horses take a while to find their confidence or land in the right race at the right moment. But the clock is ticking, and the yard will know that turning those places into wins is the only thing that will change the conversation around her.