Siorai

That said, the recent form has a flicker of something. Back-to-back second-place finishes sit in the middle of the last six runs — the horse clearly has ability, it just hasn't been able to convert it into a victory when it counts. The latest run came just yesterday, so Siorai is very much an active project rather than a forgotten cause.

On the positive side of the ledger, Siorai is trained by Harry Derham at Upper Lambourn in Berkshire — one of the most serious racing addresses in the country. Derham's yard has sent out 53 winners already this season, which tells you this is an operation that knows how to get horses fit and ready to win. When a trainer is firing in winners at that volume, a horse in their care with two recent seconds is probably closer to breaking through than the bare record suggests. The question is simply whether Siorai can find the right opportunity to turn a place into a victory — and with a busy, in-form yard behind it, that opportunity may not be far away.