Stay In The Game

What is encouraging is where that win came from. At distances between a mile and six furlongs and two miles, Stay In The Game has won 1 from 3 races — that is a 33% win rate, which is genuinely strong and suggests the horse has a real preference for that middle-distance range. When the yard pitch it at the right trip, it becomes a very different proposition.

The partnership with jockey Jason Hart has not clicked yet — five rides together and no wins — which makes it worth watching whether the team at Bagenalstown stick with him or try someone new. Trainer John Joseph Hanlon has sent out 11 winners this season from his yard in Co Carlow, so the operation is in decent form, and a horse that has just broken its duck three weeks ago and raced as recently as yesterday is clearly being kept busy. That level of activity often signals a yard that believes there is more to come.

Stay In The Game is currently competing at Class 4 level — solid, mid-tier racing — without a win at that grade yet, which means the Huntingdon victory came elsewhere. Recent form reads 1-3-3 in the last three completed races, which is the best sequence of its career so far. For a horse that spent a long time knocking on the door, momentum matters. Whether that first win has unlocked something, or whether it remains a horse that places more than it wins, is the question worth following.