Starsong

The real story with Starsong is what has happened recently. The horse was last seen racing just yesterday, and it has not crossed the line first in 11 months. That last win came at Brighton on 29 September 2025, and since then it has been all patience, all near-misses. In its last six races, Starsong has finished second once — genuinely close — then five consecutive fifths. It is the record of a horse that is still trying, still capable of beating some opponents, but struggling to find the killer instinct needed to get its head in front.

Interestingly, Starsong tends to be ridden by Frederick Larson, but that partnership has yielded just one win from ten races between them. The horse is trained by Michael Appleby, a Rutland-based handler who has sent out 71 winners from his yard this season. When you look at Starsong's form at Class 5 level — the lower tier of racing — the figures are unforgiving: zero wins from 24 attempts. That tells you something about where this horse sits in the pecking order. Starsong had its first career victory back in October 2022 at Newcastle, and while it managed five more wins after that, the well has run dry. It is the kind of horse that keeps competing, keeps showing up, but may well be past its best days.