Star Turn

The recent form makes for interesting reading. Three second-place finishes in a row in the most recent runs suggest a horse in decent nick and running consistently well at the moment — it raced just yesterday, so it is very much in the thick of things right now. But three silvers on the bounce without a gold is also the kind of pattern that makes you wonder whether Star Turn is a horse that likes company and tends to peak just behind the winner, or whether the right race simply hasn't come along yet.

At Class 5, which is the entry level of British racing, Star Turn has run five times without winning — zero from five. That is not a damning record for a horse that keeps placing, but it does suggest that even at this level, converting those close finishes into victories has proved elusive. The yard itself is in fine form, having sent out 52 winners already this season, so it isn't a case of a struggling operation — Mickey Bowen clearly knows how to get horses winning. Star Turn just hasn't joined that list yet.

What you have here is a horse that earns its keep and gives the yard a run for their money on race day, but remains something of an almost-horse — reliably competitive, rarely spectacular. Whether that changes depends on whether Bowen can find the race where everything clicks. Given how well the yard is firing, it would be unwise to completely write Star Turn off. But three seconds in a row without a win is also three near-misses, and at some point near-misses become the story itself.